Getting To Know You
by GlassHawk
Summary: After coming across the VHS tapes from the lab again, Frisk becomes curious about Chara. Eager to learn more, they instead find friends and family unusually quiet, but when a little hint leads them back to Mt. Ebott, they find more than they bargained for. And from there, not only does Frisk discover Chara's SOUL is still alive, but they become... roommates. Time to get acquainted.
1. Chapter 1

**How's it going, and welcome to the very first chapter of** ** _Chara?_**

 **Well, I'm a little late to the party, but I've really gotten into Undertale the past week. It's a great game, and the lore and characters are just fantastic. And for the past few days or so, I've had this idea for a story floating around, so I can't wait to get this rolling.**

 **Before we begin, the only ground rule that needs to be established is that this takes place after a True Pacifist run. This means Frisk knows very little about Chara, which is crucial to the story.**

 **EDIT 7/26/16: Welp... as luck would have it, a glitch swallowed up this story the first time I posted this, forcing me to reupload. I apologize for the inconvenience.**

 **Okay, enough from me. Let's get going.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Undertale. Undertale is owned by Toby Fox.**

Present

 _"Thoughts"_

 **Author's Note**

 _ **Flashback/VHS Tape**_

* * *

Frisk's eyes blinked open.

Instinctively, they brought a hand to their forehead. The skin was wet to the touch, drenched in sweat. A quick rub of their hair revealed much of the same, and the pillowcase was soaked, too. Another one of those nights.

Frisk closed their eyes again. They thought hard about what their dream was, what it could have been... they used to remember them well, but now they were harder to recall. The details were a blur.

But still, there were the eyes. Those stuck out like a sore thumb.

Frisk tore the covers away and hopped to their feet. They raised an arm high to the sky, and stretched. When they were done, they walked to a desk in a corner of the room: an open notebook sat on the surface, with a pen just above it. Frisk took the pen in hand and began to write:

 _October 14th, 2015 — Not a very good night. Woke up in a sweat. I probably had a nightmare, but I don't remember any of it... except for the eyes. Those blank eyes were looking right at me again, and I don't know why._

Frisk scanned the rest of the page. Every entry from the past two weeks—when they began the journal—mentioned horrors from the night, terrible dreams all around... and all of them had one thing in common. The eyes.

Frisk closed the notebook. They walked over to their bedroom door and yanked it open; after a short trip down the hall, they made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Frisk filed through the open doorframe and took a good look around. Sitting at the counter, a newspaper in her left hand and a coffee mug (though probably filled with something else) in her right, their dear mother Toriel. And as they walked in, she lowered the newspaper and smiled.

"Good morning, my child."

Frisk calmly made their way over to her. When they reached her, however, they opened their arms wide, and took her into a hug. She happily soaked the child in her own arms, and held them tight.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Not really... but at least I didn't wake up screaming again."

"Indeed. That's four days in a row." Toriel gently set Frisk down on their feet. "You've been having those nightmares for a few weeks now, but they seem to be getting better."

"Yeah, I guess... I still saw the eyes, though. They won't go away."

Toriel nodded. "I'm sorry I can't help you with those, but without seeing them for myself, I wouldn't know..." As she spoke, she scootched her stool away from the counter and rose to her feet. She walked to the refrigerator and opened it, and then reached inside: her hand emerged with a slice of her signature dish.

"Here, I prepared you your breakfast. Just remember to lay a napkin over your lap as you eat."

Frisk happily nodded. Toriel gave the child a soft smile, and then she set the pie down on the counter. Frisk jumped onto her former stool as she reached into the drawer for a fork.

"My child, I truly do hope you're beginning to overcome those bad dreams," she mentioned as she handed them the silverware. "That first night, I've never _heard_ one yell as loudly as you..."

"Yeah, that one was really bad," nodded Frisk. They dug their fork into the pie and took a bite. "I'm glad you told me to start keeping a journal, though. I think it's been helping me."

"I'm glad. As I said, writing down your nightmares might help us... comprehend what it is you're seeing."

Toriel stared at her feet as she spoke. Frisk looked up from their pie.

"... Are you okay?"

"Hm?" Toriel shook her head, and reestablished eye contact with her adopted child. "Oh, yes, of course. Everything's fine, dear."

"Okay... it just seemed like you spaced out there."

Toriel shook her head. "I assure you, it's quite all right. Have you finished?"

Frisk nodded. They gently pushed the empty plate across the counter, and Toriel took hold of it. She put it in the empty sink, and quickly ran the water across it.

"Oh... Frisk?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I just remembered there are quite a few boxes in the garage. A few leftover things I haven't gotten around to putting out yet. Would you perhaps help me move some of them to my room?"

Frisk nodded.

* * *

 _"Let's see here... boxes, boxes, boxes."_

Frisk glanced around the garage. Stacks upon stacks of boxes lined the floor and walls, some reaching as high as the ceiling. Clearly Toriel had been keeping this stuff for a little while now, and just now felt the need to bring it to their attention.

For some reason.

Frisk walked over to the nearest stack. It ended just below the ceiling, and a few of the boxes jutted out a little too much for Frisk's liking. Lowering the stack without sending it tumbling over would be delicate.

 _"Okay, easy now..."_ they thought as they reached for a box near the middle. _"Careful, careful, care—"_

"Hey kid."

"AAAAAH!"

Frisk whipped around on the spot, their hands abandoning the box. Standing right behind them, hands buried deep in his coat pocket and staring with wide, unending eyes was Sans.

"Sans, don't scare me like that! Use the door, don't teleport."

"It's not teleporting, kid, I took a shortcut. Get used to it."

"I have. Just don't do it now, this is important." Frisk sighed, but nevertheless chuckled a little. "Make one little mistake, and this entire room collapses around you. It's dangerous."

"Hm... yeah, you got a point. Heh."

"Why is all of this stuff here, anyway?" asked Frisk. "I don't remember any of it. Where's Toriel been keeping it all?"

"Storage. It's not all hers anyway, some of it belongs to Undyne and Alphys."

"Undyne and Alphys?" asked Frisk. "Why's some of THEIR stuff here?"

"They only moved next door last week. They mailed some of their smaller stuff ahead of time, since they said it was less cost on shipping. Good idea, to be honest. Toriel keeps asking me to bring it over, but now she's gonna make you do it instead."

"But why... never mind. Say, where's—"

"DID SOMEONE MENTION ME?!"

The front door of the house slammed shut as he spoke, sending a vibration through the floor; Frisk's eyes immediately darted to the stacks of boxes, and while a few looked wobbly, none were about to collapse. They breathed a sigh of relief just as Papyrus entered the garage.

"SANS! WHERE DID YOU GO?! YOU LEFT ME AT THE WALGREENS BY MYSELF!"

"Sorry bro. I had stuff to do."

"LIKE?!"

"Uh... leaving the store. I'd say you agree, since you're here."

"WHAT?! I MOST CERTAINLY DO—" Papyrus cut himself off and looked around the room. His eye sockets widened. "DANG IT! AH WELL. I WAS BORED WITH THE TALKING PLASTIC SWORD ANYWAY. BUT EVEN SO!"

Just as fast as he ran in, Papyrus bolted away. Sans and Frisk watched him go right through the open garage door, leap perfectly into his convertible, and somehow speed away without even turning on the engine.

"... Talking plastic sword?"

"Kids section. He likes the weapons. Oh, and hey."

"What?"

Sans' grin grew wider. "Bye."

And just like that, he was gone. Frisk turned back around.

And in an instant, they knew why.

* * *

"What was that? It sounded like a—"

"Crash? Yeah, probably. I think it's Frisk in the garage."

"Think? You were just there."

Sans shrugged. Toriel darted out of the kitchen.

"Frisk! Are you all right?"

As she entered the garage, her eyes scanned the floor; Frisk sat curled in a ball, hands covering their head, while a small collection of boxes lay perfectly around them in a circle. It was quite remarkable how none hit them.

Frisk got to their feet. Ignoring Toriel for now, they looked around the room; luckily, it appeared that none of the other stacks of boxes were in any imminent danger. They breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh dear, look at this mess," said Toriel, interrupting Frisk's thoughts. "I knew I shouldn't have stacked the boxes so high. Will you need any help cleaning up? I'd be happy to."

"No, I'll do it. Thank you for the offer, though."

Toriel smiled. She nodded.

"Very well. Please let me know if you change your mind, however. I'll be back soon to help you move them in any event."

With that, she left the room. Frisk turned their attention to the boxes strewn about the floor.

 _"Hm... not much point in stacking the boxes again. She said to bring them to her room, so..."_

Frisk squatted low to the ground, and went to the nearest box. They grabbed it with both hands, and prepared to lift it. When they did, however, they discovered the seal had come undone in the fall; all the contents came spilling out onto the garage's floor.

"What? Ah... darn it."

Frisk set the box down, open side up. Then, after a moment of stillness, they looked across the floor at whatever spilled out.

Packages of Instant Noodles. A collection of graphic novels. A piece of paper, apparently some kind of note.

And... a VHS tape. Five of them, to be exact.

 _"Tapes?"_

Frisk gingerly reached for the nearest VHS. They picked it up carefully, and inspected the plastic casing for cracks. When they found none, they turned it on its side, and found a paper label: _Tape 3._

Frisk stopped dead in their tracks.

 _"These tapes... these are from the laboratory. The ones I watched."_

Frisk looked up from the tape in their hands. A little ways away, the note beckoned once again; they quickly reached over and grabbed it, and started reading. Would this perhaps have a clue?

* * *

 _Alphys X Undyne fanfic OUTLINE (chapters one, two and three)_

 _CHAPTER 1: Alphys feeling down, Undyne asks what's wrong (EXTRA FLUFFY! BUT NOT TOO OOC REMEMBER)_

 _Alphys explains how they finished anime, now sad there's none left (IMPORTANT FOR REALISM, USE MEW MEW FOR EXTRA IMPACT!)_

 _Undyne hugs Alphys, leans in for kiss—_

* * *

Frisk put the paper down. Definitely wouldn't help.

 _"But still... why?"_ they thought. _"Why would Alphys even bring these tapes in the first place? It doesn't make sense, what's she planning to do with them?"_

Whatever the reason was, they had no clue. And with no answers forthcoming from what was in the box, it looked as if there wouldn't be any at all.

As badly as they wanted to, Frisk knew they couldn't just go up to Alphys and ask. This box was clearly meant to be one she didn't want others to see—hence the outline for the fanfic—and it wasn't really their place to be looking in it at all. Even if it _was_ an accident.

Frisk put the paper back in the box. Then they did the same with the Instant Noodles, and the graphic novel as well. But when they moved to put _Tape 3_ in the container, they felt a strange... hesitation. It kept their hand—tape entrenched in fingers—hovering over the box for a moment, and then lowering it into their lap.

Frisk could still remember these tapes well. Watching them deep in the laboratory, at that television set up in that isolated room. The first was of Toriel and Asgore, interacting with each other. Telling jokes. Messing around... and Toriel's excitement about being a mother.

The second was of Asriel. There was no picture to any of the tapes, but from what Frisk could tell by the narration, it seemed Asriel was trying to make someone do their "creepy face." And if the story they knew from was correct, that someone... was the other child.

Chara.

The next were even worse. In the third, Asriel remarking how Chara "laughed off" poisoning Asgore. The fourth, Asriel doubting a plan hatched by Chara. And the last...

As quickly as they could, Frisk put the five tapes back in the box. They resealed the package by putting the tape back on, and set it off to the side.

* * *

"My child, you were a magnificent help with the boxes today. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome..."

Toriel smiled. She gently kissed Frisk's forehead, and then pulled the covers up to their chin. "I'll be leaving to my room now. Remember, if you feel you need assistance during the night, I'm here for you."

"I know... I'm sure my nightmare won't be too bad tonight. Don't worry about me."

Toriel shook her head. "I must. I'm your mother, after all."

Frisk grinned. They sank into the pillow and closed their eyes.

Toriel, on the other hand, remained seated on the side of the bed for a moment. She watched the child, resting peacefully... for the time being. The night would grow worse soon, and how much so she did not know. If only there was something she could do to help their nightmares...

Toriel rose to her feet. She walked across the room to Frisk's door, and opened it as quietly as she could. But just before shutting it again, she spared one last look at her child.

They had rolled over in their bed. Facing away.

* * *

Frisk eyed their alarm clock again. The time read 1:19 AM.

The ruse had been a success. As far as Toriel was concerned, they were fast asleep, out like a light. Nightmares and all, of course, but asleep.

And that was just the cover to get this done.

As quietly as they could, Frisk walked over to their bedroom door. They pressed their ear against the surface, straining to hear any noises from the hall; all was quiet, meaning Toriel was most likely asleep.

Frisk opened their bedroom door, a little at a time. When it was just wide enough for them to slip out, they did so, and entered the upstairs hall. The stairs were nearby, and while the house was dark to the point of very low visibility, they knew their way around well enough to find it anyway.

Frisk went to the head of the stairs. Their hand fumbled in the dark for the handrail, but found it after a moment; they grabbed it tight and carefully made their way down. _"Three steps... four... five..."_

Ten was the magic number. And after hitting it, Frisk planted both feet on the ground. They were downstairs.

Next.

Frisk made their way into the kitchen. Careful to avoid loudly bumping things, they ran their hand along a row of drawers, until finally reaching the one at the very end. They opened it, and reached inside—a flashlight.

Frisk turned on the light. Immediately, the surroundings were revealed: A few stray cups and empty plates lined the kitchen countertop, and the stools were all neatly pushed in. The entrance to the living room was just up ahead, and from there, the garage.

Frisk walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. Thankfully, the floor here was carpeted, muffling their footsteps; the need for carefulness reduced, Frisk slouched just a bit. Nevertheless, they took their time reaching the door to the garage, and they opened it just as slowly as the bedroom.

Frisk squeezed through and closed it behind them.

With a sigh of relief, they flicked on the nearby light switch. The bulb hanging from the ceiling brightly illuminated, flooding the room with light. With its purpose served, Frisk shut off the flashlight.

Inside the garage, the number of boxes had been reduced greatly. All of Toriel's belongings had been taken to her room, while Undyne and Alphys's were in separate piles against the wall. And in Alphys's pile, there was one at the very top with a slightly torn tape seal.

Frisk grabbed it.

* * *

Frisk sat on the living room couch, in complete darkness. The flashlight was turned off, hastily pushed to the side. Their finger anxiously tapped the top of the box in their lap.

For the _life_ of them, Frisk couldn't figure out what they were doing. Sneaking around the house in the early HOUR of the morning, swiping a box of VHS tapes that wasn't even theirs, and had already seen in any event? No to mention, the chances of getting caught were high, and it would be almost unexplainable if they were.

But still... the tapes.

Frisk had to admit, the contents of the box were, to put it mildly, dark. After all, they contained Asriel, back when he was just an innocent child... and the beginning of the end for him. These were awful memories of Frisk's friend, and ones they admittedly weren't too eager to revisit.

But there was another part. The wild card, the one Frisk _didn't_ know much about. The one that had their interest piqued. The one that had them out of bed at almost two in the morning.

Chara.

In all the time they'd known her, Frisk had never heard Toriel discuss—or even so much as mention—Chara. Neither had Asgore. Obviously, there was a reason why: the former couple lost not one, but TWO children that day. The pain, though Frisk could never hope to understand it, was unimaginable. Of course they wouldn't want to go digging it up...

But the lack of information fueled the curiosity for Frisk. Rediscovering the tapes was the spark, but now they were bent on finding out more. The desire was inexplicable, really, but it their mind, it kept raising questions: What was Chara REALLY like, aside from what little they already knew? How did they change during their time in the Underground? Were they... comparable to Frisk, somehow?

Frisk looked down at the box again. They wouldn't get all they wanted to know, but maybe watching the tapes again would help clear it up a bit...

* * *

The VHS player was set.

The TV volume was turned as low as possible. Frisk sat close to the screen, their ear pressed to the speaker; seeing the picture didn't matter in the slightest, for there was none. Not on these tapes.

They just needed to listen.

Frisk felt the plastic tape in their fingers. _Tape 2,_ from the label. As far as they were concerned, the first one was irrelevant. All that mattered were the tapes with the two children. With Asriel.

And Chara.

Frisk put the tape into the machine. It gurgled static for a moment, and then, after a few clicks, began to play:

* * *

 _ **Okay, Chara, are you ready?**_

 _ **Do your creepy face!**_

 _ **AHHHHH!**_

 _ **Hee hee hee!**_

 _ **Oh!**_

 _ **Wait!**_

 _ **I had the lens cap on...**_

 _ **What!?**_

 _ **You're not gonna do it again...?**_

 _ **Come on, quit tricking me!**_

 _ **Haha!**_

* * *

The tape popped out of the machine. Frisk didn't move to grab it.

 _"Chara's creepy face? What does that even mean? It must've been pretty scary, if Asriel were asking for it on camera... I wish he didn't leave the lens cap on. I would have liked to see what Chara looked like."_

Frisk shook themself out of their thoughts. They took the tape at last and set it to the side, and then reached in the box for the next one. They held up the paper label to see which one was next: _Tape 4._

Frisk shrugged. Order didn't really matter, since they'd seen them all before. The last time they'd watched these was only a few months ago in the lab, and they still remembered them clearly.

But even so. Seeing these tapes again, of Asriel and Chara. It was... unusual. Fascinating, even.

Terrifying.

* * *

 ** _I... I don't like this idea, Chara._**

 ** _Wh. . what?_**

 ** _N-no, I'm not..._**

 ** _... big kids don't cry._**

 ** _Yeah, you're right._**

 ** _No!_**

 ** _I'd never doubt you, Chara..._**

 ** _Never!_**

 ** _Y... yeah!_**

 ** _We'll be strong!_**

 ** _We'll free everyone._**

 ** _I'll go get the flowers._**

* * *

The flowers. The poisonous buttercups, the same ones Asriel and Chara gave Asgore. Except this time...

Frisk shivered.

 _"Why would they even do something like that? I know Asriel was Chara's best friend, but... couldn't he see this was a terrible idea? Couldn't CHARA see this was a bad idea? It got them both killed... "_

Frisk blinked. For a moment, their mind went blank.

 _"... Why was Chara like this? Did they have a reason? All Asriel told me was that they hated humanity..."_

They finally spoke in a hushed whisper, to no one but themself:

"Who _were_ you, Chara?"

* * *

 **And cut.**

 **I don't have a consistent update schedule (as I release chapters as soon as they're completed), but I'll try to update as frequently as I can. Hopefully every few days, though it'll probably take a little longer once school starts up again.**

 **On a last note, I'd like to remind that constructive criticism is always welcome. I tried my best to keep everyone in character, but this being my first Undertale story, I'm not sure how well I did. Let me know what you think!**

 **Have a nice day.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey there, and welcome back to Who Are You, Chara? (I changed the name a little bit because it was pretty much impossible to find this story searching under the old one. Plus I like this one more.)**

 **Before we begin, I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who read the first chapter. It was a blast to write, and I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. Here's to many more.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Undertale. Undertale is owned by Toby Fox.**

Present

 _"Thoughts"_

 **Author's Note**

* * *

"You okay?"

Toriel blinked. She said nothing into the phone, instead keeing it pressed to her ear. But after a moment's silence, she quietly sighed, and closed her eyes.

"No, I can't necessarily say I am."

"Wait, don't tell me. You've seen a ghost."

Toriel rolled her eyes. As much as she appreciated it normally, Sans' humor wasn't quite appropriate now. "Sans, this is serious."

On the other end of the phone line, the skeleton coughed a little. "Okay, okay, no jokes. What's on your mind?"

"Frisk."

"What about them?"

"It's just..." Toriel's voice tapered off for a moment. She looked to her closed bedroom door, and moved the phone away from her ear to listen; she heard nothing from outside, signaling the child hadn't woken up yet. "I just don't know who else to go to with this. I don't even know what to do _myself_ anymore."

"Wait, slow down a second. What's 'this?'"

Toriel sighed. "The past two weeks, Frisk's been having... nightmares. Awful ones. The first few times, they woke up screaming, and they wouldn't stop until I ran in to help... now it's a little better, but they say they still see these creepy eyes in all of them."

"Eyes?" asked Sans. "What eyes? Whose are they?"

"That's the problem, I don't know. They say they see these 'blank eyes,' staring right at them, and it's happened in every dream so far. I told them to start keeping a journal, and they've written about them in every entry."

"Hm... maybe it's someone from their past? Frisk hasn't exactly told us much about their life before they fell in the Underground."

"But they _would've_ told me if they knew who the eyes belonged to!" Toriel said. "They're not keeping secrets from me. I just don't know what's going on... and I don't know how to help them."

Sans' mind ran a mile a minute. Obviously, he had no doubt this was something big on her mind—she wouldn't be calling him at five in the morning if it wasn't—but at the same time, what could she do about it? What could ANY of them do about it? She wasn't even asking him for help, she was just telling him what she already knew.

"Tori, I don't think there's anything you _can_ do for Frisk about this. I'm sorry they have to go through this, but... we have no way of really helping them, aside from consoling them. It's not like we can get in their dreams and see what's up."

Toriel's face fell in a frown.

"Yeah, I know... we'll have to wait it out. I just hope they'll be okay..."

* * *

Frisk stared up at the ceiling.

Since watching the VHS tapes more than three hours ago, their mind refused to budge from one topic only: Chara. Whether they wanted it or not, the child seeped their way into their brain, and held on with an iron grip.

But at least now they had a little idea why.

There was no denying it anymore: Frisk was curious. Very much so. The more they thought about it—and they'd given it quite a bit of thought recently—, the more they realized just how little they really knew about Chara. Save for a few details, they were a mystery... and that bothered Frisk a little bit.

While personality was a potentially different matter entirely, Frisk knew with certainly (among the _only_ things they knew about the other child with confidence) that Chara and themself were similar in a few aspects. Both were young children that fell in the Underground. They both met and lived with Toriel. They even _looked_ similar, according to Asriel.

If anything, it was almost like they were the same.

Frisk quietly got out of bed. Sleep wasn't about to come to them, and even if it did, it'd just be another bad dream. But to cover the night's activities, they knew they'd have to make up a dream for the journal; they walked over to the desk and grabbed the pen.

 _October 15th, 2015 — Another nightmare. I didn't wake up quite as sweaty as last time, but it was still bad. I remember seeing the eyes again, watching my every move. I felt petrified._

Frisk briefly looked over their handiwork. " _Not too bad,"_ they thought.

With that done, Frisk set the pen down and turned around. Their alarm clock on the nightstand said 6:29 AM; it was a little unusual for them to be up this early, but it'd happened before. They walked to the bedroom door and opened it.

"Oh!"

Frisk stopped in their tracks. Standing right in front of their door frame, fist raised like she were about to knock was Toriel; she immediately knelt to eye level.

"Frisk, are you okay? How was your dream?"

"It wasn't that bad, really. I just don't remember it too well... but I saw the eyes again."

Toriel sighed. Her face fell crestfallen, and she lowered her head.

"The eyes... Frisk, I need to ask you something. It may be a little personal."

The child shook their head. "It's all right. What is it?"

Toriel paused for a moment. Her mind fumbled to form what she wanted to say in a coherent presentation. "Well... these 'eyes,' you keep seeing. Are you CERTAIN you have no idea where they might be from? Perhaps something from your past?"

"None at all. I've thought about it, but... I don't know."

Frisk was telling the truth. Ever since the eyes started appearing, they HAD given some thought as to who they could belong to. While they preferred to... avoid their life before traveling to Mt. Ebott, there wasn't anyone they could remember looking quite like that, so blank. Emotionless, really.

Toriel nodded, breaking Frisk's thoughts. She rose to her feet once again, and offered her hand to the child. They took it.

"Very well. Come, I'll prepare you your breakfast."

The two began to head for the staircase. In her apparent haste to go downstairs, the last thing that caught Frisk's eye upstairs was the inside of Toriel's room.

Specifically, the bookcase against the wall.

* * *

"How is it?"

"Wonderful. Come on, it always is."

Toriel grinned. She reached to her left and ruffled Frisk's hair; they responses with a little smile of their own, and another bite of pie.

"Well, I'm still glad you like it. I must admit I wasn't quite as satisfied with this one as I usually am. I must be losing my touch."

She chuckled as she spoke the last part. Nevertheless, when she finished, her face fell into a little frown. She watched Frisk eat the pie for a moment longer, and then got up from her counter's stool.

"My child, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but there's a little more we need to do with the boxes."

"Oh?"

Toriel nodded. She walked around the counter to the other side, and lowered herself a bit to come eye to eye with her child. "I'm afraid so. I got a call from Undyne last night, and she wants to know where her and Alphys's stuff is; as I'm sure you recall, it was mixed in with all those other boxes. I _kindly_ asked Sans last week to help take them over while I—"

"And he didn't do it. I know," laughed Frisk. "That's Sans for you. He's a lazybones."

Toriel chuckled at the well timed (but admittedly rather easy) pun. "Yes, that he is. In any event, he won't do it for me, so now I have to ask you. I'm sorry to do so, but I have some business to attend to today, and I just don't have the time to do it myself. Would you mind?

"Nope. I'd be glad to."

Toriel smiled.

* * *

Frisk eyed the stack of boxes. Alphys's stack, to be precise.

After watching the VHS tapes last night, they'd been careful to reseal and replace the box to its original spot. It took a little doing to get it just right, but it looked indistinguishable from the others. Hopefully she wouldn't realize it'd be opened.

Though Frisk still wanted to know why the tapes were in it at all.

Their thought were interrupted by the door opening. Frisk turned, and their eyes met Toriel in the doorframe.

"I called Alphys and Undyne and told them you're on your way. They'll be expecting you."

Frisk nodded. Toriel whisked around and went back into the house, while the child looked around the garage again; there weren't _too_ many boxes in total, but still too many to carry in one go. Time for the wagon.

Frisk walked to the wall opposite the stacks. Hanging on the wall by a single peg, a rusted American Flyer wagon beckoned; they grabbed it with both hands, and carefully lowered it to the ground. A gift from Papyrus during his last visit, though Frisk had no idea where he'd gotten it. Probably a trash dump... somewhere.

Frisk brought the wagon to the box stacks, the rusted wheels squeaking and groaning in protest. They started loading Alphys's pile first, and they specifically made the box with the tapes the first one put in the wagon. Then they loaded the rest of the packages in one at a time, and they stacked and shuffled them around until the VHS box was completely concealed.

"Perfect."

Once that was done, Frisk put all of Undyne's boxes in the wagon. When the cargo was loaded at last, the miniature stacks rose well above the tiny walls of the wagon, but not quite too high to where they'd fall. Frisk nodded to themself.

 _"Okay, time to wheel these... next door."_

* * *

RING!

Frisk took their hand off the doorbell. They had to admit, the chime was a little nice; nothing too brash or obnoxious, but not too quiet, either. Since they'd be using it a lot, it was important to get used to it. Very... calm.

"COMING! GIVE ME A SECOND!"

Frisk took a step back. Whatever Undyne was planning, they just hoped it didn't hurt. So much for calm.

The door was ripped open with power. Frisk didn't even have time to move before they were taken in a headlock.

"Well there they are! My little buddy, how's it going?!"

As she spoke, Undyne started giving Frisk a noogie. They knew she was trying to be gentle. but... _ouch._

"Yes, yes, hi! Please put me down..."

"Oh, sure thing!" A grin spread across her face as she fulfilled their request, quite literally dropping Frisk to the floor. The child groaned, their voice muffled from being face down.

"Oog... I didn't mean quite like that."

"Well, too late." Undyne's grin didn't fade an inch as she turned Frisk over, and set them back on their feet. "But really, it's good to see you."

Frisk grinned. "You too. Glad you were finally able to move in here!"

"Heh heh, yeah! Took longer than I would've liked, though. Humans have a dumb way of selling these things." Undyne's eyes trickled past Frisk, and to the red wagon parked next to the porch. "And hey, you brought our stuff! Thanks a million."

"Are they here yet, Undyne?"

Both Frisk and Undyne turned around. Emerging from deeper in the house, Alphys walked into the foyer; as her eyes fell down to the child, she gave them a warm, inviting smile.

"Hello, Frisk. It's nice to see you again."

Frisk's grin grew wider. "Hi, Alphys. Glad you're here."

She nodded at this. "As am I. When we saw we had an opportunity to move so close, we couldn't resist. Isn't that right, Undyne?"

"Yep! After all, where would we be without our favorite pal?"

Undyne ruffled Frisk's hair. They laughed a little and tried to push her hand away.

"Okay, but..." they said as she finally stopped. "It is true, though, I brought all your stuff here. Want me to bring it in?"

"Frisk, you've done plenty for us already. The _least_ we can do is help you move those boxes," said Alphys. She made her way past the two and out the open door, Undyne fast on her heels. Frisk lagged behind a bit, but eventually joined the two.

As Frisk watched Undyne and Alphys collect a handful of the boxes, Frisk swallowed the lump in the throat. Now was the time to settle the mystery of the tapes, once and for all.

"Hey, guys?"

"Yes, Frisk?" asked Alphys.

"What's _in_ all these boxes, anyway? It seems like you already have your stuff in the house."

"Oh, all this?" said Undyne. "Smaller junk from the Underground we wanted to keep. Most of this is from Alphys's lab, _isn't that right?"_ She gently poked Alphys in the side as she spoke the last bit, and the other giggled.

"Hee hee! Yes, it is true, though. I couldn't leave some of this stuff behind—ESPECIALLY not my extensive archive of 'human history.'"

"I understand..." said Frisk. Unfortunately for them, that wasn't _quite_ what they were looking for for an answer; they'd have to try and dig a little deeper. "Anything REALLY interesting you brought, though? There was some cool stuff in your lab, I'm curious."

"That you are," said Alphys. Her voice spoke in a bit of a curious drawl, and she eyed Frisk with a hint of uncertainty. But she quickly shook her head. "But to answer to your question, no, not really. I grabbed some stuff from the lab underground, but nothing too big to put in these boxes. A few video tapes of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie I kept down there, too. The hidden episodes."

Frisk's mouth went dry.

"... Mew Mew Kissy Cutie? Isn't that your favorite anime?"

"Yep! I kept the tapes in a room in the underground lab. They were far too valuable to leave exposed."

Frisk said nothing.

 _"So then that means... her bringing the tapes with Chara was an accident. She thought she grabbed videos of MMKC..."_

Frisk stood still as a statue, frozen in place. Alphys had already walked back inside the house, and Undyne was just about to shut the door before she turned around.

"Kid? Come on in, I'll make you some tea. Extra hot."

Frisk shook their head. Their eyes snapped to Undyne, and her own watched them with curiosity. They nodded.

"Yeah... tea sounds pretty good right about now."

* * *

Frisk sat on the front steps of their house. Their hands were folded neatly in their lap, and their eyes fixed to the early evening clouds billowing across the sky. A gentle breeze flew right on by.

All with a smile.

Frisk had to admit, a great burden had been taken off their mind. If Alphys was being truthful about the tapes—and they had no doubt she was—then there _wasn't_ some giant conspiracy, or something outlandish like that. It was an accident the tapes were there. And that was that.

And yet, it was already too late. Their curiosity about Chara wasn't going away any time soon.

Frisk rose to their feet. They swiveled around on the spot and grabbed the handle to the front door; they pushed it open and saw themself inside.

"I'm home!"

Frisk slipped off their shoes and walked into the living room. As they entered the room, Toriel set down her book, stood up from her oversized armchair, and knelt in front of her child to come eye-to-eye.

"Hello, my child. Did you have a nice time?"

"Yep, I sure did. We had tea and watched an awful movie. Funny stuff."

Toriel smiled. "Well, I'm glad to hear it. I'm sure our new living arrangement will be quite fruitful for all of us."

Frisk simply nodded. "Yeah... say, what are we going to have for dinner tonight? Will it take very long?"

"Oh yes, about that..." Toriel stood up and made her way into the kitchen, Frisk close on her heels. "Just a little while ago, Sans called. He said he and Papyrus are going to try that pasta restaurant in town, and they wanted to know if you'd like to come with. His treat."

A grin crept up on Frisk's face. "Yeah, of course! That sounds like fun."

Toriel nodded, a smile adorning her own features. "I'll call him and let him know you're coming; I'm sure he'll be happy to hear. In the meantime, why don't you get ready?"

Frisk nodded. They briskly jogged past Toriel and out of the kitchen, and back into the foyer of the house; the foot of the stairs beckoned, and they hopped up two at a time until they reached the top.

And then they stopped.

At the end of the long upstairs hallway, the door to Toriel's bedroom was still wide open. Positioned just in front of it against the back wall was a bookcase. Frisk had seen it just about every day since Toriel put it there, and this morning was no exception.

They'd never paid any attention to it before. But now... maybe there'd be something about Chara. It couldn't hurt to check.

Frisk strained their ears. From downstairs, they could hear the faint sound of Toriel's voice, talking to Sans over the phone. She'd be busy for a little while, and unlikely to come upstairs. Now was a good opportunity, and one they'd be foolish to pass up.

Frisk tiptoed across the hall. They quietly filed into Toriel's room, and went straight to the bookcase. The furniture itself was short, only a little taller than them, but the biggest books were on the bottom shelf. They dropped to their knees and took one out, on the far left of the case.

Frisk flipped the cover open. A clear plastic sheet served as the first page, and all the others too... a sheet of pictures. It was a photo album.

Page by page, Frisk skimmed their way through the album. While they only caught one or two pictures per page, nothing seemed particularly remarkable; some were black & white, others a grainy color. Some pictures were of nature, others of monsters, and some Frisk didn't even recognize.

But then they reached the last page. And what they saw made them freeze up on the spot.

Embedded in the inside of the back cover was one last picture. It had a sepia filter, making it unique from all the other images. The edges were worn and crumpled, as if it had been many places before.

The image was of a single human child, sitting on a rock. It was a little too faded to see clearly, but from what Frisk could tell, they wore a striped sweater similar to their own. Their face consisted a blank, simple smile, staring right at the camera. And below the image itself, a caption was written in pencil:

 _Chara._

Frisk gulped.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap. Until next time, of course.**

 **Well... it seems our friend Frisk is inching closer to learning about Chara. But full disclosure: next chapter is when things really start to get going. Stay tuned for more fun times, lol.**

 **Have a nice day.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again, and welcome back to Who Are You, Chara?**

 **Well, I don't really have much to say, other than, as always, I hope you like the chapter. Let's get crackin'.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Undertale. Undertale is owned by Toby Fox.**

Present

 _"Thoughts"_

 **Author's Note**

* * *

Frisk walked down the nighttime sidewalk of the downtown street, hands buried deep in their sweatshirt's pockets. Blue and orange, of course.

Being the middle of October, the chill of the approaching winter was only just beginning to set in. Even so, light winds nipped at them wherever they got the chance, and there were many that night; still, Frisk barely noticed. They had far too much on their mind.

Like the picture of Chara.

From an objective standpoint, Frisk knew the photograph was, at best, unremarkable. After all, it was old, faded, even blurred with a sepia filter. It was a little difficult to tell what it was in the first place.

But nevertheless, now Frisk knew what Chara looked like. While that finally satisfied just a bit of their curiosity—Asriel hadn't been kidding when he said they looked a little similar—, now they couldn't get the image itself out of their mind. And besides, it wasn't like their appearance revealed anything about their personality... which Frisk was still in the dark about.

 _"Man... I gotta stop thinking about this. I'm coming here to enjoy myself, not stress out."_

As the thought crossed their mind, Frisk looked up. Sandwiched between the other buildings running up and down the road, a bright neon sign reading _FRANCESCO'S PASTA_ beckoned. The restaurant Sans invited them too. For the most part, it seemed nice: a few well washed windows out front, the sign lighting up the entrance, and some relaxing music tricking through the slightly open door.

Frisk walked up and peeked through the window. In the very back of the dining area, the unmistakable height and shape of Papyrus caught their eyes. And just next to him, a heap of bones in a big blue jacket sat slouched on the bench, as if they were asleep.

Frisk grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. A blast of hot air from inside hit their face, and they shut their eyes in involuntary reaction. They quickly got used to it, however, and after blinking them open, took a step inside. One step.

"Good evening. Do you have a reservation?"

Frisk turned to the voice. A middle aged man in a rather expensive looking jacket stood behind a podium to their right. He watched them with slightly squinted eyes, and Frisk guessed it was in annoyance.

"Um... not exactly."

"Not exactly? I'm afraid this establishment is for reserved guests only. I must ask you to leave."

"Hey, hold on! I didn't make the reservation myself, but I'm supposed to be joining a party. They're already here."

"A party? Hm..." The man flipped through a booklet on the podium, before putting his finger on a page. "How many?"

"Three."

The man flipped a few more pages. "Three, three, three... ah, yes. It seems there is in fact one scheduled for—" he cut himself off as he looked at his watch, "right now. One with a... Mr. Sans and Mr. Papyrus. Correct?"

Frisk nodded. "Yep, that's the one. Do I need to confirm—"

"Already done. Allow me to show you to your table."

The man stepped out from behind the podium, and started the journey to the table in the back of the dining area. Frisk followed behind.

"Here you are. Enjoy your meal," he said as the two arrived. Papyrus greeted Frisk with an enthusiastic wave, while Sans gave a simple nod. Frisk smiled and hopped in the booth; rather than having a traditional two benches, this particular booth's seats surrounded almost the whole table, giving everyone plenty of space.

"HELLO FRISK! HOW ARE YOU THIS FINE EVENING?!"

"I'm doing well," they replied. "How about you?"

"A OK! AND SANS IS, TOO."

Frisk's eyes drifted to Sans. His own watched them with his usual gaze, but something felt a little... different. They couldn't quite put their finger on it.

"Hey kid. You feeling okay?"

"Uh... yeah, I'd say so. Why?"

"No reason. Just making sure."

Sans picked up the menu and buried his face in it. Frisk watched him for a few moments, and then proceeded to pick up their own.

"So... thanks for inviting me. I've never been here before, but it looks nice."

"YEAH! I OBSERVED THE SAME. GLAD TO SEE WE'RE IN AGREEMENT!"

After that little exhange, Frisk and Papyrus entered a long, rather silly debate about pasta. As the two went back and forth, however, Sans folded his menu and looked over Frisk: aside from the eyes—it was hard to explain, but they looked a bit more tired than usual—nothing _seemed_ outwardly wrong. Maybe Toriel was overreacting a little about Frisk's state of mind... or maybe not.

"Are you three ready to order?"

Frisk and Papyrus stopped talking at once, and all three turned. The same man from the entrance towered over the table, a small notepad in his hand, and a towel draped over his arm.

"Uh... hold on. I'm not ready yet."

Frisk and Papyrus picked up their menus. Sans chuckled.

"Well, I'M ready to order. We'll start with me."

The waiter tapped his foot in impatience. Nevertheless, he took his pen from his shirt pocket, and poised it to write. "And what'll it be, sir?"

"Pasta."

The waiter's eye twitched. "I'm afraid that's not specific enough. You must—"

"OKAY, I'VE MADE UP MY MIND! I WANT..." Papyrus slammed the menu down, and paused for dramatic effect. "THE SPAGHETTI! YOUR ABSOLUTE BEST!"

Frisk shrugged. "Two, please."

The room suddenly felt very hot. Sans blinked.

"Uh, wait, hold on. We were just joking. On second thought..." his eyes darted around the restaurant, looking for something to bail them out; he noticed a small whiteboard on a stand near the door, the words _DAILY SPECIAL!_ written in almost perfect cursive. "We'll take the daily special. Whatever it is. All three of us."

The waiter's disposition—one remarkably resembling a tea pot coming to a boil—cooled on the spot. He quickly jotted down the orders on his pad, and bowed. "Very good. The accompanying appetizer will be arriving shortly."

And with that, he collected the three menus and walked away. Sans chuckled again.

"I have no idea what we just ordered."

"AS LONG AS IT'S SPAGHETTI, I'LL BE SATISFIED!" exclaimed Papyrus. "ANYTHING ELSE, HOWEVER, AND I MAY BE FORCED TO REQUEST A REFUND. OR AT THE VERY LEAST A MULLIGAN."

"Papyrus, I don't think that's quite how it works in restaurants," said Frisk. "But who cares, let's just go with it! It'll be—"

"Your appetizers."

The waiter cut Frisk off. In his right hand, he held a tray with three dishes, and in his left a fold out stand. He quickly set the stand up, and then set the tray down. Metal covers obscured the contents of the plates.

The waiter set a dish in front of each. Then, starting with Papyrus's, he lifted the covers one by one: the plates consisted of a single spaghetti noodle, drowned in an unrecognizable green and white sauce. Frisk blinked.

"Um... what is this called?"

"Spaghetti Noodle on the Ranch. The 'ranch' portion is our signature Orowakioreidiayeorhe sauce, meant to resemble a grass pasture. It consists of fresh herbs and spices grown in our forest/garden hybrid, located just behind the establishment. Meanwhile, the spaghetti noodle portion... I'm supposed to tell you it was prepared in Italy yesterday and flown here via Boeing 747, but between us, it's store bought. Enjoy."

The waiter walked away again. All three looked down at their dishes.

"... Honestly, I don't know what to say."

"Neither do I, kid. It's a rare feeling for me."

"IT'S DELICIOUS!"

Sans and Frisk looked up. Papyrus's mouth was covered with the green and white sauce, but they could plainly see he was smiling. He quickly brought a napkin to it, however, before speaking again.

"IT'S ASTOUNDING! IT'S INCOMPREHENSIBLE! IT'S SPAGHETTI... REINVENTED! STAGGERING!"

"Hm... is it really that good?" asked Frisk. They stole a glance at their own dish again, where the sauce seemed to be mysteriously bubbling. "I mean, it kinda looks like pu—"

"NEVER YOU MIND, JUST TRY IT! YOU'LL NEVER REGRET IT."

Frisk picked up their fork. They poked and prodded at the dish for a moment, as if it would somehow change into something more... palatable. When no such miracle occurred, they sighed and scooped up the lone spaghetti noodle.

"Well... here I go."

* * *

"You alive, kid?"

Frisk nodded. They hopped up back onto their spot in the booth, and let out a sigh. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just took a while to get the taste out of my mouth."

"IT TOOK YOU EIGHTEEN MINUTES AND TWENTY THREE SECONDS. BUT WHO'S COUNTING?!"

Frisk couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, I'm not surprised... seriously though, that was something. I can't even describe it."

"I'll be sure to let the cook know of your opinion. Your main dish is here."

Once again, all three seated at the table turned to the waiter. And just like last time, he was holding a tray and the fold out stand; he set them both up, and set the three dishes in front of the diners in the same fashion as before. "Enjoy it while it's hot."

He lifted the covers. This time... three bowls of Penne pasta. With a light tomato sauce on top.

The waiter walked away yet again. Sans and Frisk picked up their forks and quickly dug in, while Papyrus looked crestfallen.

"HM... THIS IS NOT SPAGHETTI. I MUST ADMIT I'M DISAPPOINTED."

"Relax bro, it's in the same family," said Sans. "The place is called Francesco's PASTA, not spaghetti. Just eat what you got."

"IT IS TRUE THAT ALL PASTA IS GOOD PASTA, BUT MY HEART IS SET ON THE BEST OF THEM ALL. I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!"

Papyrus shot to his feet and took off in the direction of the kitchen. Sans breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good... kid, listen. I need to talk to you."

"Talk to me? Uh, okay." Frisk set down their fork and turned their attention intently to Sans. "What do you need?"

"Look, don't tell Toriel I said this, but... she called me this morning and told me what's up. I know you've been having these nightmares recently."

Frisk raised an eyebrow. Whatever they'd been expecting, it certainly wasn't this. "Well... yeah, it's true. It hasn't affected me too much yet, but—"

"It's starting to. I can tell just from a glance you're exhausted." True to his word, Sans quickly looked Frisk over; they slouched in their seat as if they were nodding off a bit, and their eyes were as droopy as ever. "And it's not gonna get better with time."

"Honestly, it's usually better than this. Don't take any stock into how I look right now."

"Why not?"

Frisk said nothing for a moment. They quickly glanced around the restaurant first; Papyrus was nowhere to be seen, and the few others scattered about the dining area didn't seem to be in earshot, either.

"Between you and me," Frisk mumbled, keeping their voice only just above audible, "I didn't sleep at _all_ last night. I was... busy with something. Unrelated to the nightmares."

Sans leaned back and crossed his arms. "Hm... all right, then. I won't ask more."

Frisk nodded in appreciation. Sans continued.

"Honestly kid, I hate to say it, but... I don't think there's anything I can do for you about your nightmares. I don't think there's anything _anyone_ can do for you. I kinda just wanted to tell you all this... I'm worried about ya. You get what I'm saying?"

Frisk nodded. "Yeah, I know... thanks. I appreciate it."

Sans' grin grew a little wider. "No problem. What are friends for?"

"THIS IS COMPLETELY ABSURD! SANS, WE'RE LEAVING!"

Before either Frisk or Sans could speak again, Papyrus came storming out of the kitchen and back to the table. He grabbed Sans by the hood of his jacket, dragged him out of the booth, and barreled out the door.

Frisk shook their head in surprise.

* * *

"Is everything taken care of?"

As Sans opened the door of the restaurant, he nodded at Frisk's question. "Yep, it's all squared away. We are no longer fugitives for not paying the bill."

Frisk breathed a sigh of relief. "Well that's good... Papyrus, I get you were frustrated, but was what you did really necessary?"

"TO BE HONEST, NO. BUT EVEN SO, THEIR REFUSAL TO ALLOW ME TO SWITCH TO SPAGHETTI WAS INEXCUSABLE. I'M A PAYING CUSTOMER!"

"Yeah, but we got _exactly_ what we ordered, and it wasn't spaghetti. You had plenty of time to look at the menu."

"BUT I SPECIFICALLY SAID I _WANTED_ SPAGHETTI! AND THEN SANS BUTTED IN AND GOT THE SPECIAL FOR THE THREE OF US."

Frisk said nothing. _"... He's got a point, to be honest."_

"Okay, okay, it doesn't matter. What's done is done. Now let's all kindly do ourselves a favor and never come back here," interrupted Sans. "Seriously. They said they'll call the police if we do."

"Sounds good to me," nodded Frisk. "The food was terrible anyway. Even the main dish."

"OKAY, THAT ABOUT WRAPS UP TONIGHT!" exclaimed Papyrus. "I PARKED A LITTLE WAYS AWAY. EITHER OF YOU NEED A RIDE?"

"Nah, I'll take a shortcut. What about you, kid?"

"Um... you know what, I'll take that shortcut with you. You can go ahead, Papyrus."

"OKIE DOKIE! SEE YOU AT A FUTURE TIME!"

Papyrus took off down the road for his car in a full on sprint. Sans' eyes turned to Frisk.

"Uh, kid? What was that about?"

"Listen, I want to talk to you about something. Alone."

Sans stuck his hands in his jacket's pockets. "Yeah, sure. Come on, we'll skip the shortcut for now."

Sans started his walk down the sidewalk and out of town, Frisk by his side. For a few moments, save for the nighttime winds, all was quiet. But then they cleared their throat, and angled their head to look at their friend.

"Sans, do you remember what I said earlier? About how I didn't get any sleep last night?"

"Yeah, you said you were doing something. Why?"

"Well, the thing I was doing..." Frisk cut themself off and gently sighed. They closed their eyes for a moment. "Look, I know this'll sound weird, but what do you know about Chara?"

Sans stopped on the spot.

"... Chara?"

Frisk turned around. "Yeah, Chara. The kid that fell in the Underground a long time ago. Do you know anything about them?"

Sans said nothing. His eyes sat frozen on Frisk for a moment, wide and unblinking; after a few seconds like this, he shook his head.

"No... no, I don't. Sorry."

Frisk quietly groaned in disappointment. "Ah man... all right. I was just curious, that's all."

"Yep, I understand. Here, I'll take you home now."

Sans' voice was hurried, and a fair bit quieter than normal. Before Frisk even had an opportunity to ask what was wrong, he put his hand on their shoulder, and pushed them forward; the next thing they knew, they were standing on the front porch of their own house.

"Okay kid, here we are. Good night."

And with that, Sans was gone. Frisk scratched the top of their head.

 _"... What was that about?"_

* * *

 **And that's all the time we have for today! Tune in next time for FABULOUS prizes on—oh, sorry. This is a story, not a game show. ESPECIALLY not Mettaton's show (thank goodness, lol).**

 **Google search for common Italian names:**

 ** _For males—Marco, Alessandro, Giuseppe, Antonio, Luca, Giovanni, Roberto, Andrea, Stefano, Angelo, Francesco, Mario, Luigi._**

 ** _For females—Anna, Maria, Sara, Laura, Aurora, Valentina, Giulia, Rosa, Gianna, Giuseppina, Angela, Giovanna, Sofia, Stella._**

 **I picked Francesco out of a hat. And thus, the name Francesco's Pasta was born. Wew.**

 **Okay, that's about it for now. I'll see you all later.**

 **Have a nice day.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey there, and welcome back to Who Are You, Chara?**

 **Remember how I said at the end of chapter two how chapter three was when things would really pick up? I lied. And the reason for that is because I had a scene planned, but I decided it would fit better to bump it back a little. (That's also why the last chapter was the shortest yet.) It's included here, however, so here we go.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Undertale. Undertale is owned by Toby Fox.**

Present

 _"Thoughts"_

 **Author's Note**

* * *

"Good night, Frisk."

"Good night."

As she gently closed their bedroom door, Toriel couldn't help but sigh. Even without the usual adventures of caring for Frisk, today had been absolutely exhausting; dealing with paperwork and such at the school, getting all her extra belongings from the boxes squared away in the house... a good night's sleep sounded perfect.

Toriel trudged down the upstairs hall to her bedroom. But just as she was reached for the handle to her door, the cell phone in her pocket started to vibrate. Someone was calling.

"Ugh..." she fumbled for the phone for a moment before grabbing hold. She pressed the 'answer call' button. "Hello?"

"Toriel, it's me, Sans."

"Oh, Sans!" Toriel opened her bedroom door and stepped inside. She walked to the side of the mattress and sat down. "How'd it go at the restaurant? Frisk didn't really give me many details... but apparently they're banned from returning."

"Yeah, that's right. Papyrus got in a little argument with the chef. But listen, that's not what I'm calling about. It's more important."

"More important?" Toriel scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Okay... what?"

"Uh..."

* * *

Sans tugged at the collar of his shirt.

He had to admit, he hadn't really... prepared for this conversation. He assumed it would come naturally: call Toriel, tell her Frisk was on to learning about Chara, and that's that. Easy.

Except now he was actually doing it. Not as easy.

"Sans? Are you still there?"

"Yeah. I'm just... I'm thinking of how to put this. It involves Frisk."

"Frisk?" Even over the phone, Toriel's voice sounded far more hurried. "What about them? They're okay, right? They look like it, but—"

"Yes, they're fine. But I'm worried they might not be soon..."

Sans closed his eyes. He spoke again before she had the chance to.

"Look, before I say anything else, I just want you to know I'm sorry. It was an unspeakable tragedy for you, and I apologize for having to bring it up. I know you don't want to be reminded of it..."

"Reminded of what?"

Sans sighed.

"Toriel... on the way home from the restaurant, Frisk asked me about Chara."

* * *

Toriel's eyes widened.

"... Are you sure?"

"Positive. They described them as 'the kid that fell in the Underground.' I don't know—"

"Why? What were you talking about that made them ask that? Tell me, now!"

"Hey, calm down," replied Sans. "Just let me finish talking. I don't know why they asked me that, but it surprised me too. We didn't even so much as _mention_ the Underground during dinner, so I have no idea where it came from. I was hoping you would."

Toriel closed her eyes. She tightly pursed her dry, cracked lips.

"What did you say to them?"

"That I didn't know anything, and then I took them home. I really don't know much about them aside from rumors, but... it bothered me how they were asking in the first place."

"I need some time to think about all this. I'll call you later."

Toriel hung up the phone. She set it face down next to her, and buried her face in her hands.

 _"Chara..."_

* * *

"Ugh... where am I?"

Frisk waved their hand in front of their face. They couldn't see it. It was too dark. Pitch black, even.

In other words, another nightmare.

Frisk sat up and looked around. For what seemed like miles and miles, the room was filled with an endless darkness; it wasn't quite suffocating, but still very real, almost like they could cut it with a knife. And with no light nearby, not even in the far distance, it looked like no help was coming soon. It never did.

But still. They'd been here before. Nothing new.

Without another sound, Frisk stood up and started walking. To where they didn't know, but that wasn't important. They knew they would wake up soon, and then that would be it for the dream; for now, moving around was the only way to kill time. Besides, if the dream was going to take a turn for the worse—probably when the eyes showed up—it would be better to be on their feet than standing still.

Frisk chuckled. _"I'm getting kinda good at this whole nightmare thing, aren't I? I just wish they would end..."_

"How unusual."

Frisk stopped cold. That wasn't them who spoke.

 _"... What was that?"_

Nothing followed for a few moments. Consequently, with a fair bit more hesitation than before, Frisk started walking again. This time, however, they kept their mind clear and focused on their surroundings. They didn't want to miss whatever that was if it happened again...

But then, just a few feet ahead, a small light poked through the dark and caught their attention. It wasn't bright enough to light up much around it, nor was it dim enough to not be seen; it merely hovered in place, just above the ground. They squinted a little to look at it more closely. "Here come the eyes..." they mumbled.

"No... not this time. Not tonight, now that I can speak to you."

Frisk gagged.

"What the—what was that? Show yourself!"

"Show myself? That's not important right now. I'd rather the focus be on _you..._ Frisk."

The voice was rather dull, , and a bit monotone. It carried little emotion. But the strangest part was, it was distinctly the voice of a child. While not quite interchangeable, it sounded remarkably similar to Frisk's, and they couldn't put their finger on it. Where had they heard this voice before?

"Yes, you," it continued. "I must admit, I've taken quite a fascination in you in recent weeks. It's been difficult not to, since you brought me back to life. I suppose I owe you a thanks."

"Who are you?"

"In time. For now, all you need to know is this is no ordinary dream. None of your recent ones have been. I am very much real... and closer than you think. I can even _talk_ to you now, for example."

"N-now?" stammered Frisk. "What do you mean now? Have you... have you tried talking to me before?"

"Many times, and all have failed. This is the first breakthrough. I must admit I'm rather surprised... I really shouldn't be, with how much stronger I've gotten."

Frisk tightly grabbed at the hem of their shirt. Whatever was going on in this dream, it was completely unlike anything they'd experienced before. Who _was_ this person? How were they able to communicate? And why was did they sound like—

Frisk's eyes widened.

"Wait... are you—"

"Listen to me, and listen carefully. I know you've settled above ground, in a village away from Mt. Ebott. Go back to the mountain. Re-enter the Underground. When you do... I'll tell you what you want to know. If I were you, I'd hurry."

As the voice finished speaking, the light just ahead of Frisk burned away. Their feet kicked into action and they ran to the spot, but saw no trace it had even been there. The light was gone.

And with it, the voice.

"WAIT, COME BACK! WHO ARE YOU? ARE YOU CHARA?! ANSWE—"

* * *

Frisk shot up in their bed.

Their head and ears pounded with adrenaline. Their heart ran a mile a minute in their chest, and sweat rolled down their face like raindrops on a window. Still, they made no effort to move around; they merely sat still as a statue, taking deep, rhythmic breaths.

Finally, after a few minutes, Frisk wiped their forehead with their sleeve. Then they did the same with their eyes, and the first thing their sight caught was the clock on the nightstand: 7:23 AM.

 _"Jeez..."_ they thought, _"that was a strong one._ _I better write it down."_

Frisk slipped the covers off and got out of bed. They slowly made their way to the desk, keeping their footsteps quiet to avoid alerting Toriel if she was still in the other room. Being close to 7:30, however, she was probably awake...

Frisk reached the desk and the notebook. Their eyes fell instinctively on the open pages, but as they did, they noticed something a little unusual: There was already an entry written in for October 16th, today. They had no memory of it.

 _You know what to do._

* * *

Toriel heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She pushed out her stool and stood up.

All last night, she'd thought long and hard about what to do next, and she racked her mind for why Frisk was showing interest in Chara. She still didn't have an explanation why, and she knew she'd probably never get one straight up.

But she still had to nip the bud before it spread.

As this thought crossed her mind, Frisk ran into the kitchen and came to a halt. They looked around for a moment, and caught sight of her behind the counter; they briskly walked over.

"Mom! Listen, I—"

"Frisk, it can wait. We need to talk."

Frisk voice died in their throat. They paused, and looked Toriel in the eyes for a moment; her own were deathly serious, a glare she rarely used. They knew she wasn't joking around.

"Please take a seat," said Toriel. Frisk walked over to a kitchen stool and hopped up on it, while Toriel took one on the other side of the counter. She faced her child and sighed.

"Frisk... last night, Sans called me after I tucked you in. He told me something interesting."

"Sans? Was it about the restaurant?"

"No, Frisk, it wasn't about the restaurant. It was something you told him on the way home... and it surprised me as much as it did him."

Frisk lowered their head. Here it comes...

"What he told me was that you asked him whether he knew anything about... Chara. Is this correct?"

Frisk said nothing in tongue. But they nodded, once.

"Why?"

"... Why what?"

"Why did you ask him that? It doesn't seem like you."

"Well, I... you see..." Frisk stumbled around for a few moments, but they knew there was no getting out of this. They sighed. "Fine. I'll tell you everything...

"A few days ago, I kinda came across something about Chara. By accident. But it made me curious... I mean, I don't know anything about them, really. But I've heard some people say I'm similar to them, can you really blame me for—"

"Frisk, you are _nothing_ like Chara. Understand?"

Frisk gulped. "O-okay..."

Toriel curtly nodded in approval. After a moment of stoicism, however, her face melted into a eyes closed frown.

"Frisk... there's no point in hiding it anymore. I've been keeping information about Chara from you on purpose."

"You have? Why?"

"While you're undeniably mature beyond your years, the fact is you're still only a child. It wouldn't be proper for you to know. Not right now."

Toriel's eyes were glued to her feet as she spoke. Frisk tapped their finger against the counter surface.

"Frisk, listen to me carefully. I want you to forget about Chara, understand?"

"Forget about them? Why?"

"As I said before, now simply isn't the right time. I understand this may seem frustrating, but please know I'm only doing this to protect you."

"Protect me? You'd be protecting me a lot more by telling me about them!"

Frisk bit their tongue at their outburst. It was unintentional, to be sure... but it was _exactly_ what was on their mind. Why couldn't she just say more?

But then Toriel's expression contorted in anger. All the bravery in Frisk whisked away in an instant.

"Frisk, I will make myself clear. If I find out you've been snooping around again, there will be consequences, and I promise you you won't like them. I'm sorry to have to put my foot down like this, but by now I see no other option."

Frisk's face morphed into a frown.

"I understand."

Toriel nodded. And with that, she turned away from her child.

 _"I'm sorry, Frisk... but it's not the right time. I hope you'll come to understand..."_

* * *

"Not the right time, she says, I'm still just a child... AAAAGH!"

Frisk picked up another rock and chucked it. It skidded across the pond in a rather impressive bout of skips, before finally slipping below the surface. They immediately reached over the side of the bench for another, but their fingers merely danced in the air. They'd thrown every stone in the pile.

"... Dang it."

Frisk leaned back into the bench. They closed their eyes and pointed their face to the sky.

Deep down, they knew they were being silly about how she wouldn't speak about Chara. Toriel _always_ wanted nothing but the best for them, and now was certainly no exception. It was clear she felt this was the best course to reach that point, and she would stick by it no matter what. Normally, her level of dedication was one her most admirable qualities.

But today, Frisk wasn't so happy about it.

 _"I don't get it... why is she so adamant to keep me in the dark about Chara? She's never used the 'child card' before, why now? There must be something I don't know, something she doesn't want to let on about..."_

Frisk crossed their arms.

"Well..." they mumbled, "she said I'll be in trouble if I try to learn more. I guess I gotta be more careful now."

Frisk lowered their head. Even though they were a bit upset at her at the moment, they still didn't like disobeying Toriel; she was their mother, after all, and she meant the world to them. Were this anything less important, they probably _would_ drop the subject, and that would be it.

But after the dream last night, there was no going back. They had to know more, no matter what.

Frisk stood up from the bench. Across the pond, a row of houses in the neighborhood lined up neatly, their reflections clear in the crystal water. One of them belonged to someone who might be able to help them.

And they had a hunch Toriel wouldn't find out.

* * *

KNOCK KNOCK!

Asgore's eyes trickled to the door. He gently sighed with a hint of annoyance, and set the watering can down on the kitchen table; his windowsill plants would have to wait for the time being. "Coming, coming..."

He made his way out of the kitchen and into the foyer. Without bothering to check through the window who was outside, he grabbed the handle and opened the door. "Hello?"

"Hi, Asgore."

Asgore's eyes fell lower on the porch. He smiled. "Well hello there, Frisk. What brings you here?"

"I'd like to talk to you. It's kinda sensitive, though, so... do you mind?"

"Of course not. But if it's as you say, you'd better come in." Asgore stepped to the side and cleared the door frame. "You can just leave your shoes in the entrance. Make yourself at home."

Frisk entered the foyer and glanced around. Of all their friends since they'd left the Underground, they had to admit they'd spoken to Asgore the least; it was something they would like to change in the future, to be sure. For now, though, business came first.

Asgore turned his back to Frisk and made his way down the front hall. Frisk followed behind, and after a right turn, they both came into the living room. An enormous couch propped against the wall and several armchairs opposite were waiting; Asgore took a seat in a chair. Frisk hopped up on the couch, allowing the two to face each other.

"So, what's on your mind?" said Asgore.

"Um... listen, I know this'll sound strange—and I can explain it—but I kinda want to talk to you about someone from the past. Someone you knew well."

"Someone I knew? Very well, who is it?"

"... Chara."

Asgore's face fell at once. Frisk's heart beat a little faster.

"I see... you know, I had a feeling you'd ask me about them someday."

"N-no, wait, hold on!" said Frisk. "I... maybe... I'm sorry. It was insensitive of me to do this without warning you ahead of time. I shouldn't have come here..."

To Frisk's surprise, a small, but sincere smile emerged from Asgore's lips. He shook his head. "It's all right... and I think I know what's going on. You've taken an interest in my child recently, haven't you."

"Y... yes. I accidentally came across something about them, and it made me curious."

"Yet you come to me, and not Toriel... she's trying to stop you, isn't she?"

Frisk blinked. _"Jeez, he's perceptive... nice."_

"Yeah. Listen, about my visit here... you won't tell her, right?"

Asgore shook his head. "Even if I wanted to, she wouldn't listen to me. This'll be our little secret."

Frisk smiled.

"So... you wish to know about Chara," said Asgore. "Before I say anything, I'd like to know what's on your mind. Why are you so interested?"

"Because I don't know anything about them! All I've heard is that I'm kinda similar to them... and also that I'm not. I don't know. But everyone I've asked so far is keeping information from me, dancing around it... it's tearing me apart. I have to know."

"I understand. In any event, I'll tell you this: you bear no similarities to my child. At least, my child later in their life."

Frisk nodded. _"Well that's a relief... I guess? Yeah, probably. Probably..."_

"Frisk, Chara was... a bit of a problem child," said Asgore, interrupting their thoughts. "Obviously more so later on. But they weren't always like that."

"They weren't? How so?"

"When Asriel first brought them home, they were alone, and scared. We took pity on them. Showed them love and compassion... and they returned it to us in full. More so, even."

"And you took them in," said Frisk. Asgore nodded.

"Indeed. They had no method of returning above ground, and they showed no desire to anyway. As far as they were concerned, _we_ were their family. And the three of us made it our mission to be that for them.

"Over time, hope filled the Underground. A human child, living in harmony with monsters... it made us think of possibilities. What our lives could become. It filled us with determination to someday break the barrier, once and for all."

"But then..."

"The accident," finished Asgore. "Chara's consumption of the buttercups. Their becoming ill. And finally, their passing..."

Asgore took a handkerchief from his pocket. He gently rubbed his eyes, one at a time.

"... Frisk, I still don't understand it myself. Chara began as a kind, loving soul, and one in need. But when we reached out to them... it's like they slipped further and further away, out of our grasp. Out of _anyone's_ grasp. I wish I knew why..."

Frisk shook their head. "So do I... I'm sorry, Asgore. I know how difficult this must be to talk about."

"It's all right. Really," he replied. His voice dripped with sadness, but a small smile lined his face. "Every now and then, I'm still fond of remembering what once was. Maybe a little too much, to be honest."

"I understand," said Frisk. They stood up from the couch. "Asgore, I came here with curiosity about Chara, and it's been more than satisfied by what you've told me. Thank you..."

* * *

Frisk looked out over the water of the pond again. They sat in the same bench as before, arms crossed, and leaned back. In the sky, the evening sun was just beginning to fall.

The only difference was no pile of rocks this time.

While Frisk hated to admit it, the trip to Asgore's taught them little they didn't already know. If anything, it only confirmed that Asgore knew _less_ then they did; it seemed he didn't know that Chara ate the buttercups on purpose, which implied he wasn't aware of their plan. It was no accident.

And, by extension, he also didn't know of Chara's 'hatred for humanity,' in the words of Asriel. Frisk didn't mention that during their talk with Asgore—they couldn't bring themself to, not during such a sensitive time—but if Asgore didn't at least hint at it himself, he probably didn't know.

Frisk stood up from the bench. Asgore was their last, best chance at learning anything of significance about Chara, and it proved fruitless. There were two options now: Either give up... or listen to what the voice in the dream said.

They knew, while difficult, it was possible. Now that the barrier was destroyed, it'd be a piece of cake to go back to the Underground. The real obstacle would be getting back to Mt. Ebott and back before anyone knew. Could they?

Frisk sat back down. _"I need to think this over..."_

* * *

 **That's all, folks!**

 **Hm... so, le plot thickens. It's gonna be a fun ride from here on out, so buckle up; we're chugging right along to new and exciting horizons. Or something like that, lol. You get the idea.**

 **Anyway, I don't really like doing this, but I would like to remind you guys that reviews are always welcome. Any and all feedback (good or bad, so long as it's contructive) helps me out, and I'd love to hear about how I've been doing so far. (Again, I don't like asking for this straight up, so this'll be the last time for a while, I promise.)**

 **Have a nice day.**


	5. Chapter 5

**How's it going, and welcome back to Who Are You, Chara?**

 **Wew... sorry for the long delay between chapters. School's started up again, and I have to admit it's been a little difficult balancing so far. I'm sure it'll get better once we're a little ways in, but for now, this one took slower to get out there than I would've liked.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Undertale. Undertale is owned by Toby Fox.**

Present

 _"Thoughts"_

 **Author's Note**

* * *

 _"... I'm really going to do this."_

Frisk shook their head in disbelief. They'd finally gone mad. They were crazy, they had to be. Insane. There was no rational reason to be doing this. None at all. They'd get caught! Surely—

Before they could let the string of thoughts run on forever, Frisk shook their head again. Now wasn't the time for doubt, because the clock just hit 10:30 PM. It was go time.

Frisk walked to the bedroom window. Propped against the wall underneath the windowsill, a fully packed drawstring backpack awaited; they picked it up and slung it over their shoulders. It held everything they'd need for the trip—money, several maps, and a few snacks—but it was still light and easy to carry. Perfect for the job.

Careful to do it slowly so they didn't make noise, Frisk slid the window up as much as they could. When there was enough space, they ducked their head and slipped out onto the roof. The, they closed the window behind them.

From their vantage point, Frisk looked around the street. As they expected, no one was in their own backyard, and it didn't seem to them like anyone was out on the sidewalk, either. If they were lucky, they could make a quick getaway out of the neighborhood and into town.

Frisk walked to the edge of the roof. They crouched and grabbed the edge with both hands, and then slowly lowered themselves down. Though they were small, the porch was more than high enough to serve as a spot for them to land on, and they did just that.

Once they were at ground level, Frisk took off. They weaved and bobbed through backyards and sidewalks, careful to watch their surroundings; any minute now a car or person might come along, and it would look awfully suspicious for a young child with a backpack to be outside at this hour. They wouldn't be a little more safe until they were out of the neighborhood, and even then they would still be walking on a razor thin edge.

Nevertheless, a few blocks away from the house, Frisk leaned against a tree and took a breath. They recuperated their energy for a few moments, and then dropped their bag to the ground and opened it. They reached inside, and came up with a crumpled piece of paper. They opened it up:

 _FRISK'S MASTER PLAN_

 _1\. GET TO THE TRAIN STATION IN TOWN BY 11 PM_

 _2\. BOARD TRAIN, RIDE FOR FORTY MINUTES, GET OFF AT FOURTEENTH STOP_

 _3\. WALK THE REST OF THE DISTANCE TO MT. EBOTT_

 _4\. GET BACK ON TRAIN HOME BY 5 AM (IMPORTANT!), BE BACK IN BEDROOM BY 6:30_

Frisk folded the plan as neatly as they could, and stuck it in their pocket. It was a solid plan when they made it, and it's a solid plan now. The only trouble would be executing...

* * *

Frisk looked up. The train station beckoned.

They had to admit, they weren't entirely sure why there was a station in this town to begin with. It was a small community, barely more than a thousand; certainly not nearly the size as some of the bigger cities it ran to. It seemed a little bit... far out for something like this. It was probably built with taxpayer money.

But tonight, it was like an angel sent from above.

Once again, Frisk jammed their hand in their pocket. This time, however, they felt what they were looking for quickly, and pulled it out: a train ticket, punched with eight holes. Two spaces remained, indicating two rides left. Just enough to get them to the mountain and back.

Frisk grinned. It was very fortunate that they still had this ticket lying around; a little remnant of the days when Alphys and Undyne lived further away. They and Toriel visited them every once in a while, and she got multi ride passes for them both. Now that their two friends had moved closer, the tickets were unnecessary. Forgotten.

Except for tonight.

A little ways down the sidewalk, a small wooden bench caught their eye, empty. Frisk walked over and plopped down, and then ran through the plan again in their mind.

 _"Okay..."_ They took out the list and read it over. _"In fourteen stops after I board, the train stops at a town about twenty minutes away from the mountain. This is the closest I'll get before I have to start walking, so... here it comes."_

Frisk stood up. Sure enough, far down the tracks but coming up fast, headlights broke through the still darkness of the night. Then the sound of wheels scraping against the rails. Even the horn.

"Well... here we go."

* * *

"Ticket, please?"

Frisk turned around in their seat, their eyes shifting the front of the train cabin. The conductor was making his way down the aisle, checking the passes of the (few) other riders; it wouldn't be long before he reached them. Frisk took their ticket out of their pocket and patiently waited.

A couple minutes later, the man finally reached their seat. Rather than asking to see their ticket right away, however, he eyed Frisk with a slight hint of confusion.

"May I see your ticket, please? I'll also need to stamp your parents' passes when they get back."

"My parents? I'm riding the train by myself."

The man raised an eyebrow. "By yourself? You seem a little young."

"Yeah... I know." Frisk held up their ticket. "Can you please just stamp it?"

The man shook his head a little, but nevertheless took the ticket out of their hand. He reached into his front shirt pocket for a small hole puncher, and he used it on the little _9_ space. "Here. Have a good night."

The man left the car to move on to the next. Frisk breathed a sigh of relief.

While they knew it was rather unlikely, secrecy was a key to this whole operation. After all, they _were,_ in the eyes of most, a wayward, parentless child; while that obviously wasn't the case in reality, it would still be a huge mess if someone were to try and act on that feeling. The importance of getting to the mountain and back as quickly as possible couldn't be overstressed.

 _"... Are we there yet?"_

* * *

"Attention passengers! We are now approaching the next stop!"

Frisk rolled up their sweatshirt sleeve and glanced at their watch. The time was just a few minutes past midnight; about an hour and a half since they'd escaped from house. Everything was going well—faster than expected, even. _"Maybe I really can pull this off..."_

"Attention passengers! Doors opening!"

Sure enough, just to the right of Frisk, the heavy doors split in two. A blast of cold nighttime air seeped in, but they paid no heed as they stepped out of the train. When they were outside, however, they stuck their hands in their pockets and raised their hood.

"Okay, let's see..." they mumbled as they unslung their drawstring bag. They slipped it open again and fumbled around, before lifting out another map and opening it. "The mountain is... there?"

Frisk turned around, and immediately saw the map was unnecessary. Towering well over all the rest of the scenery, the giant mountain immediately caught their eye; even against the backdrop of the starry sky, it was enormous. And just past the train tracks, the giant, wide open field to walk there beckoned them.

The Underground...

* * *

Frisk peered down.

They had to admit, they never thought they'd be back here. After shattering the barrier once and for all, they were certain their time in the Underground was over. _Everyone's_ time in the Underground was over. Their new life had begun.

They were wrong.

From down the entrance, it seemed to Frisk that nothing had changed. The yellow flower bed was still waiting to cushion their fall. The same dark room still awaited... at least this time, they'd be able to get out on their own initiative. There was nothing holding them back, no barrier. Just drop in and that's that.

Frisk shut their eyes. They paused for a moment... and then leaped.

THUMP!

Not even a couple seconds after their feet left the ground, it was over. The child opened their eyes; the starry night sky met their eyes. But this time, the stars were concentrated in a circle, and they seemed further than before. It didn't take them long to realize they were staring up through the entrance to the Underground.

Frisk rose to their feet. They quickly patted themself down for injuries—those flowers were a remarkably resistant cushion—and then turned their eyes to the entrance to the ruins. _"Well, they said meet them in the Underground... I guess I have to—"_

"I see you made it. Good."

Frisk's blood froze. That voice... it was them. Unmistakably.

"You see, I have to admit..." the voice continued, "I wasn't actually expecting you to appear so soon. It's a nice surprise."

"Are you Chara?"

The voice said nothing for a moment. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Frisk's face, but they didn't bother to wipe it away. The tension in the room was so thick, they could practically cut it with a knife; so much as _moving_ felt like it would cause a chain reaction.

"... You know there's a reason I summoned you here. It isn't to speak to you as a bodiless voice."

The voice whisked away as they finished speaking. It was replaced with a light gust of wind, swishing through the hole in the roof. But it was quickly supplanted by a much more powerful one from the ruins, forcing Frisk to shut their eyes. They planted their feet in the ground as their hair was whipped behind them, nearly blown back.

And then, in an instant, it stopped. Frisk opened their eyes.

A mere few steps away, a child looked them right in the eyes. They wore a green and yellow striped sweater, and light brown pants. Their short brown hair stopped just over their ears, and their pink rosy cheeks brightened their face. But what caught Frisk's attention the most were the eyes... the same ones from the dream.

"It was you... you were the one giving me those nightmares."

"Yes, I was," The child nodded. "And to answer your previous question... you're correct. I am Chara."

Frisk blinked.

"... I don't know how you're here, but I have a lot I want to ask you."

"I'm aware. And I must admit, I have things I want to ask you, too. But first, I suppose I owe you an explanation.

"To start, I can imagine you're pondering how I'm alive. In short... it's you, Frisk. You're the reason I'm here again, and that's why I've taken such an interest in you. You could even say you're my guardian _angel."_

"Wait, I'M the reason you're alive?" exclaimed Frisk. "How? You died a long time ago."

"Not quite. As you know well, human SOULs are strong. Far stronger than monster souls. They can linger after death, as mine has done. But up until your first entrance to the Underground, it did just that: it lingered, and nothing more. Formless, voiceless, useless... I couldn't do anything. I didn't have enough _determination._ "

"You didn't have enough? What do you mean?" said Frisk. "And why does it matter that I visited the Underground? Other humans have come and gone before me, you could've used their SOULs instead."

"You're correct about the other humans, but I had this reaction to none of them. And the reason for this is because you and I have the _same_ SOUL _._ It's determination that restored me... your determination."

Frisk said nothing. For the first time, their eyes fell from Chara and to their own feet.

 _"We have the same SOUL? Jeez, I didn't know... we really are similar, aren't we?"_

"It's a coincidence, really. One I'm glad happened, but still a coincidence," continued Chara. "Had a different human fallen into the Underground, they'd have assuredly been killed, and their SOUL used to break the barrier. And that would've been the end for me."

Frisk looked into Chara's eyes again. They stared right back, blank as ever.

"But thanks to you, my friend, I'm alive and well. Honestly, when you shattered the barrier and left the Underground, I feared I would disappear, but that wasn't the case. Enough of your determination from your time in the Underground stayed in me. I even became powerful enough to contact you, though only subliminally... hence the dreams."

"Wait, what do you mean my determination? Were you stealing it or something?"

Chara's smile dropped a bit. "I'm certainly not _stealing_ it. Borrowing is the better term. As I said earlier, we have the same SOUL type, but since you have the physical body, you're more powerful; that's why you sustain me, and not the other way around. And you have so much determination in everything you do... it's astounding, really. If you were anyone else, I'd be gone."

"But _how_ am I sustaining you? I never meant to give you determination, I didn't even know that was possible! How have you been getting it?"

"Our SOULs are human SOULs, and we both have red. It's the most powerful SOUL there is, and yours is the strongest of _those._ For lack of a more eloquent description, I haven't been stealing your determination, I've been _feeding_ off it. A handy perk of existing only as a SOUL, and yours is so powerful, it's been easy. I can even do it over a surprisingly long distance... but I receive the most when you're in the Underground. Thank you."

Frisk swallowed the lump in their throat.

"You mean... I've been keeping you alive because you're _using_ my determination? All this time?"

"You aren't technically keeping me alive. My SOUL's been lingering from the moment I left my physical body; I've never been dead in the traditional sense. But at the same time, I never had the strength to speak or make a form until you came along. And your physical presence here is why I can talk to you with a body."

"Wait, time out a second," said Frisk. "If me being in the Underground is the reason you're here, why didn't you try doing this when I first fell down? You had plenty of time to."

"True, but the tim _ing_ wasn't right. Had I appeared to you then, it would have been fruitless. This is better."

A shiver ran down Frisk's spine. Chara's grin suddenly felt a lot more... creepy.

"Now then..." said Chara, "I suppose that suffices for an explanation. I'm done."

Frisk's heart skipped a beat in surprise. "Ah... okay, if you don't mind, I want to ask you some stuff now. I've been researching you a lot recently, but I haven't really learned too much. No one will tell me anything."

"I'm not surprised. You won't be either."

Frisk bit the inside of their lip. "Uh... sure. I guess I'll start with the biggest thing on my mind. Why'd you climb the mountain?"

"I hated humanity. I still do."

Frisk sighed. "Yeah, I know _that_ much already... I guess I can't force you to tell me if you don't want to, but you don't have to keep secrets. I'll—"

Chara held up their hand, as if they were taking an oath. Frisk froze up.

"I won't be keeping secrets from you, especially when we leave. In fact, I'll tell you something right now... the reason I brought you down here."

Frisk silently gulped. Their throat, suddenly dry, struggled to produce words. "I-it's to talk to me, isn't it? Except... with more than just the voice, I guess..."

"If I _just_ wanted to talk with you, I could do it in the dreams. I ordered you here for something else. Something more."

Chara's grin returned. Their eyes went wide.

"I'm a SOUL. I have no physical being. But the unique thing about SOULs is they can be absorbed..."

Frisk blinked again.

"Wait... what are you—"

They never had time to finish.

Without any warning, white flashes flooded their sight and blinded them. A searing pain exploded in their mind, crashing through their body like pounding waves and overriding all other feelings. They fell to the ground in a heap, writhing in agony, and screaming to the ceiling above. But even through that, the faint sound of laughter echoed in their ears...

And then all went quiet.

* * *

 **And cut.**

 **So. Stuff's going down. Lots more's coming. Stay tuned.**

 **Have a nice day.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey there, and welcome back to Getting To Know You.**

 **Yeah... I know I changed the name again. Summary, too. In short, I wasn't satisfied with either the first... or second time, so here we are.**

 **¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Undertale. Undertale is owned by Toby Fox.**

Present

 _"Thoughts"_

 **Author's Note**

* * *

Frisk's eyes blinked open.

Instinctively, they winced. They weren't sure how long they'd been unconscious—maybe a minute, maybe an hour, maybe a day—but it didn't matter to them. That _pain..._ that explosive pain. It was lurking. Any second now it would come back. Any second now.

And then, before they knew it, a full minute passed. Nothing.

 _"... What happened?"_

Slowly, Frisk sat up. When they were uprighthey glanced around the room: Chara was nowhere to be seen. For a second, they entertained the thought that it had all been a fantastic dream, but it was quickly dashed when they heard their voice again.

"... What?"

Frisk closed their hand into a fist. Their fingernails dug into the skin of their palm; the feeling was very much real. They did it again for good measure. Definitely not a dream, or they wouldn't have felt it. Then again, they wouldn't have felt what that white flash was, either...

"Why... why didn't it work?"

Frisk paid no heed to Chara. They rose to their feet and walked to the flower bed. They looked up through the hole in the ceiling, and saw that while the sky was a little brighter, the moon was still out. Assuming it was the same day, they'd only been out a little while, at the longest.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?! ANSWER ME!"

The voice came from behind them. Frisk whipped around on the spot, and their eyes met with Chara; unlike before, their expression was one of anger, and it was quickly mirrored by Frisk.

"What did I do? What did _you_ do? Did you try to ABSORB me?!"

"That's not important right now! Why aren't you compatible? We have the same SOUL type, there should be no issues!"

"I don't know, and I don't care! And you just _admitted_ it!"

"Ridiculous. I was merely... I... WHY DIDN'T IT WORK?!"

Rather than refuting right away again, Frisk took a breath. They had to confess, they were a little tempted to chuckle; after the previous cold and calculating demeanor they'd come to know Chara by, this sudden change was at least a _little_ amusing. But not enough to make a difference.

"So, that was your plan all along, huh? Lead me down here and steal my body? Nice try. It almost worked."

As soon as the words left Frisk's mouth, the scowl from Chara's face washed away. Rather than the grin from before, however, they merely adopted a blank slate, rather similar to their own. Their cheeks were a lot less rosy.

"... Even if the plan succeeded, it wouldn't be like you'd be _gone._ We'd share. I have no doubt you'd be a great partner."

"Well guess what? I have a feeling we wouldn't be. And we're never gonna find out."

Frisk trudged past Chara and toward the ruins entrance. While walking, they lifted their sleeve and checked their watch: 4:40 AM. They knew they could exit the Underground through the mountain path and get back to the train station in time for the 5 AM line, but they'd have to hurry.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

Frisk paid no heed to Chara. They didn't even glance from the corner of their eye as the other child ran to their side and followed. "I _said,_ where are you going?"

"Home."

Chara's lips curled into a frown. "Hold on, don't leave yet. If you do, I won't be able to maintain this body. I need your determination."

"I don't care."

"Sure you do." As soon as the frown appeared, it was replaced with a small, devilish smile. "Don't you remember how _interested_ you are in me? I've hardly told you anything, but I know secrets. Lots of them. Think about it... you'd like to know even just a little, wouldn't you?"

Frisk came to a halt, and finally angled their head to Chara. They looked them right in the eyes.

"Guess you didn't hear me the first time. I. Don't. Care. Not anymore."

Frisk continued walking again. Chara didn't break pace.

"Come now, be reasonable. You can't expect to _live_ with yourself, leaving me down here. The guilt will destroy you."

"After the little stunt you pulled? I doubt it."

Chara shook their head. "Then I'll make your nightmares worse. Much worse."

"And _I'll_ cut off your determination supply." A smile spread across Frisk's face as they said this, and the opposite reaction fell across Chara's. "Now that I know how you're getting it, I'll figure it out. I've got a friend who's pretty smart with this stuff."

"I... you can't. It's impossible... isn't it?"

As they went back and forth, the door leading out of the Underground beckoned at the end of the hall. Just before they began the trek down, however, Frisk came to a stop again.

"Well, I guess this is it, Chara. Apparently you can't follow me out of the Underground, or you would've sought me out on your own. It's been nice knowing you... or not."

With that, Frisk turned around and walked away. And after a short, quiet walk down the hall, they stepped through the door in the ruins and back outside.

* * *

Frisk stared out over the field. At night, it was just as beautiful as the last time.

When they thought about it, they realized they hadn't been here since all the monsters had been freed. There wasn't reason to, of course, but it was still more than just a little nostalgic; the memory was as clear as if it had happened yesterday. Watching the sun rise with Toriel, Sans, Papyrus... pondering the possibilities for the future—

"Well now... would you look at that."

Frisk's smile plummeted like a stone. That voice. It _can't_ be.

Frisk closed their eyes. They were hearing things. It was the wind. It had to be. And for a moment, they were certain they were... until they heard a small laugh, right next to them.

"Hello, Frisk."

Frisk slowly turned to their side. Chara was looking right at them, the same smile from before etched in their face. More than just a hint of gloating danced along with it.

"... Why are you here? I thought you couldn't leave the Underground."

"So did I. But I guess things have changed. Maybe attempting to absorb you did more good than I thought."

Rather than replying with words, Frisk brought their hand in front of Chara's face. The other said nothing as they tried to poke them right on the cheek; their finger went through, as if there was nothing there at all. _"So, it's not a physical body... guess you're still a SOUL."_

"Well," said Frisk as they retracted their arm, "even though you're free, you still don't have a body. Can't do much harm without being solid, can you?"

"I suppose... for the time being."

Frisk rolled their eyes. They stuck their hands in the sweatshirt pockets, and made their way down the mountain path. Chara followed right by their side.

"You're not even going to ask how I was able to leave the Underground? It's rather relevant to you."

"I'll bet."

Frisk continued trudging down the mountain, wearing as blank an expression as they could manage. Chara, on the other hand, didn't let their smile slide an inch. "So... where are you going?"

"Home. Away from you, hopefully."

Chara shook their head. "Not possible, I'm afraid. I just figured out why I was able to leave."

Frisk came to a halt. "Oh yeah? How?"

"See? Now you ask me." Chara chuckled a bit, but quickly cut it off. "As you know, my attempt to merge with you was a failure. It didn't have quite the end result I was looking for... but luckily for me, it did do _some_ things."

"Like?"

"Like, for example, intertwining our SOULs. I must admit I don't understand entirely how it works right now, but it seems you and I are now... connected. Not in body, mind you, but in spirit. For example."

Chara calmly walked down the mountain path. They kept on their merry way until they reached a bend, and then they turned out of sight. Frisk watched them go.

 _"Uh... where are they—"_

"See?"

Frisk shrieked. They jumped around in surprise, and found Chara standing right beside them. The same grin from when they first met was plastered to their face.

"What? How'd you get back here so fast?!"

"I merely teleported to your location. Quite easily."

Frisk scrunched their eyebrows in confusion. "Teleported to me? How did you do that?"

Chara shrugged. "I wish I knew, but it works. It seems I picked this ability up a little while ago, I could never do this in the past. Interesting, isn't it?"

Frisk said nothing.

 _"So this means... Chara's stuck with me now? This can't be happening..."_

"I must say, you look like you've seen a ghost. Actually... you have. Carry on."

Frisk shook their head, breaking their thoughts. "It's nothing. I was just thinking of... the time." As they spoke, they rolled up their sweatshirt sleeve and checked their watch. "And speaking of that, it's... FOUR FORTY FIVE?! I'M GONNA MISS THE TRAIN!"

Frisk took off in a sprint down the mountain path, kicking up a tremendous cloud of dust in the process. Chara watched them go.

"... Hm."

* * *

"Attention passengers! Doors closing!"

Frisk didn't hear the announcement over the train intercom. Their heavy, forced breathing and pounding eardrums blocked everything else out, even Chara. They hadn't thought that was possible until now.

At least, until they laughed again.

"I have to say, you're a good sprinter. I didn't think you'd make it."

Frisk, from their hunched over position, angled their head to look at the other. Their mouth hung slightly agape to breathe, and sweat rolled down their forehead; they shook their head. "No... of course... you didn't..."

Chara's smile grew a little. Without another word, they turned around, walked right through—literally, unobstructed—the doors into the next cart, and left Frisk by themself. They gave themself another moment to catch their breath, and then stood up straight.

Frisk walked up to the doors of the train cart and pressed the button. As the doors slid open, their eyes darted around the room for Chara; it didn't take long before they found them, almost pressed up against the window of an empty seat in the back. Frisk sighed a little, but walked over and plopped down next to them.

"... What are you doing?"

"Imagining horrible things."

Frisk rolled their eyes. "Fine, just do it without attracting attention. We don't want to—"

Their voice cut out, involuntarily. Frisk's eyes widened.

"Wait a second... can anyone see you?" They spoke in a seethed, clenched teeth whisper, and their eyes darted around the train. No one seemed to be looking at them, to their relief.

"Probably not."

"Probably? How do you know?"

"Because." Chara shrugged their shoulders again. "Someone _probably_ would've pointed out me walking through solid metal doors. Just a thought."

Frisk slumped in their seat. "Yeah yeah, I get it..."

For the next few minutes, both rode the train in silence. Chara kept their eyes fixed straight ahead, the same smile on their face even though they were looking at nothing; Frisk, on the other hand, gazed out the window and listened to the sounds of wheels against the tracks. They wished they were in the window seat so they could lean against the glass, and maybe even close their eyes...

"Isn't this exciting?"

Frisk angled their head to Chara. "What?"

"I said, isn't our new arrangement exciting? I must admit I hadn't anticipated escaping the Underground quite like this, but clearly it's worked. I have little room to complain."

Frisk crossed their arms and shook their head. "Our new arrangement? Yeah right. You're planning something."

To Frisk's expectation, Chara shook their head as well. "Nonsense. My attempt to merge with you _was_ my plan, and it only half succeeded. The current situation is, for now, our new reality."

Frisk eyed Chara. The other hadn't looked at them as they spoke; they continued to stare straight ahead, at the doors in the front of the cabin.

"... Why are you telling me this?"

Now Chara turned to face Frisk; they locked eye contact. A shiver went down their spine.

"Truthfully, because I see no harm in it. I can't speak for the future, but for the time being, I must remain as a SOUL. And since I can only be seen and heard by you, you could say we have a _bond_... it's almost like my plan worked. Almost."

Chara started to laugh. A shiver ran down Frisk's spine.

* * *

"So, this is where you live? Seems nice. I suppose I'll have to get used to it."

Frisk and Chara walked up the driveway of Frisk's. They reached the garage door, and the keypad to the side of the frame beckoned; Frisk walked over and punched in a few numbers. The door started to creak open.

"Ugh... I wish it didn't make so much noise."

Chara chuckled a bit. "Noise? I suppose you're trying to enter silently."

Frisk begrudgingly nodded. "Yeah... no one knows I'm out right now. I'd like to keep it that way."

With the door fully opened, the two walked into the garage. Frisk tiptoed as quietly as they could, while Chara carelessly ambled in; being a SOUL only seen by Frisk, they made no noise.

When they reached the door leading into the living room, Frisk slowly reached for the knob. When they held it, they started to twist it just as carefully; after only a moment, however, they stopped.

"Hey..." whispered Frisk. "Chara, get over here."

"Hm?" Chara made their way from the opposite wall to Frisk. They'd been admiring the wagon, hanging on the wall. "You know, I think I used to have one of those. What do you want?"

"Go inside the house. Make sure the coast is clear."

Chara said nothing for a moment, but then nodded. "Fine," they mumbled as they went through the wall.

When they were inside, Chara glanced around the living room. For the most part, it seemed pretty typical; a TV off to the side, a big coffee table with a bunch of books and magazines, a couch... and a rather large chair in the corner, a lamp hanging overhead. It looked perfect for reading.

Chara turned around and re-entered the garage. Their eyes met Frisk's.

"No one's in there. It's safe."

Frisk gave Chara a suspicious look, eyebrows creased. But nevertheless, they quietly opened the door.

When their feet hit the doormat, Frisk slipped off their shoes. They tiptoed across the floor to the stairs; Chara lagged noticeably behind, biding their time by looking around at as much as they could.

"Hm... I must admit, it has a cozy feel. Familiar, even. I like it."

Frisk said nothing; they couldn't afford to this time, for any excess noise might wake up or alert Toriel. With this in mind, they walked the stairs two at a time, and kept the journey as slow as they needed to be certain they were quiet. Now was the most critical juncture: if they were caught outside of their room with a sweatshirt and backpack, it would be impossible to downplay.

After nearly thirty seconds of this, Frisk finally reached the top of the stairs. Their eyes shot down the hall to Toriel's bedroom door; it was shut tight, with no light seeping through the crack at the bottom. It seemed she was still asleep.

Frisk approached their bedroom door. Unlike before, they opened it without hesitation, and quickly closed it behind them.

Frisk knew they didn't have much time. Without missing a beat, they slipped off their drawstring backpack and kicked it under their bed. Then they pulled their sweatshirt over their head, and threw it near their dresser; they were wearing their plain white pajama shirt underneath.

Frisk jumped into bed and pulled the covers over them. They closed their eyes to appear asleep, and lay still as a statue; they strained to listen for any sounds outside their door...

"If the objective is to appear asleep, you're failing. Miserably."

Frisk opened their eyes. Chara sat at the end of their bed, legs crossed and hands in their lap. They were smiling all the same, and their eyes bored into Frisk's with a gaze they couldn't quite place.

Frisk said nothing at first, but angled their ear to the bedroom door. No sounds from outside.

"... Are you gonna leave any time soon?"

Chara scrunched their eyebrows a bit. "Leave? I don't understand."

Frisk sat up straight in their bed. They raised their knees, and wrapped their arms around them. "I mean, leave me _._ I don't buy that whole 'bonded to me' thing; I think you can leave any time you want, and truth be told, I wouldn't object if you did. Why are you still here?"

Chara's grin fell from their face. They uncrossed their legs and stood up, walking to the window.

"... I don't know."

* * *

 **And cut.**

 **So... now Frisk and Chara are stuck with each other. Or are they? We'll see what happens next, but for now, fun times in... you know, I don't think I've given a name to the town. kek**

 **Have a nice day.**


	7. Chapter 7

**How's it going, and welcome back to Getting To Know You.**

 **Well, I don't have a whole lot to say right now, so no sense in wasting time. Let's jump right in.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Undertale. Undertale is owned by Toby Fox.**

Present

 _"Thoughts"_

 **Author's Note**

* * *

"Ugh... what time is it?"

"Time for you to rise and shine."

Frisk rolled over in their mattress. They angled their head a bit, and their eyes danced across their alarm clock's screen: 11:51 AM. "Jeez... I only meant to close my eyes for a few minutes. Sorry To—"

Before they could finish saying Toriel's name, they cut themself off. It wasn't her at all in the room at all.

"Honestly, I considered waking you, but decided against it. You looked so... peaceful, resting without those nightmares."

Frisk sat up straight. Sitting on the windowsill across the room, Chara watched them with dull, expressionless eyes; to the child's surprise, however, their lips weren't curled in the big smile they were used to, but instead just a small grin. It looked a little insincere.

Frisk whipped their feet to the edge of the bed and stood up. "Yeah, nightmares _you_ caused," they said as they made their way to their dresser. They opened the second drawer from the bottom, rooted around, and grabbed a new shirt. "I'm surprised you didn't do it again, just to mess with me."

"I have no reason to anymore. And tampering with the feelings of my _gracious_ host isn't a wise idea."

Frisk opened the hem of the shirt and pulled it over them, leaving their white pajama shirt on underneath. After poking their arms through the sleeves, they turned to the window and took a few steps toward Chara.

"... Have you gone anywhere since I fell asleep? Like, out of this room?"

Chara shook their head. "No. And even if I did, it's not like anyone else could see me."

"I know, I know, it's just... were you watching me the whole time? That's a little weird."

The grin on Chara's face expanded a little. "Not the _whole_ time, no, but... a little. There wasn't much else to do. For the most part, I bided my time by rooting through all your stuff. Don't open your closet, I was too lazy to put any of it back properly."

"Why am I not surprised?" mumbled Frisk as they walked out of their bedroom. From the corner of their eye, they could see Chara trailing behind them a bit, but following nevertheless. Just like yesterday, they glanced around with interest.

Frisk walked downstairs and stopped in the doorframe of the kitchen. They half expected to see Toriel, sitting at the counter with a coffee mug, but instead received an empty room, save for them. And Chara.

"Hm... I must admit, it's very cozy," said Chara, as they physically passed through Frisk and entered the kitchen. "An excellent place to prepare food. And speaking of that, do you have any chocolate?"

Frisk scrunched their eyebrows. "Chocolate? Why?"

"It's been far too long. Give me chocolate."

Almost without meaning to, Frisk found themself chuckling a little bit. "Can you even eat or drink? Where would it go?"

"I have no idea. But it doesn't hurt to try."

With that, Chara made their way to the fridge and yanked the door open. The sounds of rustling through various metal cans, plastic containers, and many other things filled the air. Frisk sighed a little. "Just don't destroy anything. I'm going to the living room."

True to their word, Frisk filed through the door opposite the kitchen, and entered the lounge of the house. They immediately made their way to Toriel's armchair, and hopped up in it; they reached to the side for the little lever, and gave it a pull. The footrest swung out, letting them lean back and put their feet up.

As they sat in the chair and stared straight ahead at the wall, it didn't take long for Frisk to realize they had nothing to do that day. There wasn't any point in trying to find out more about Chara anymore, and they had no plans to spend time with any of their other friends.

 _"Or..."_ Frisk's eyes turned to the living room door again. They sounds from inside the kitchen hadn't ceased. _"I guess I COULD spend some time with Chara. They'll probably just follow me around, even if I don't want to."  
_

Just as the thought crossed Frisk's mind, the SOUL in question entered the room. They wore a frown on their face, and they shook their head as they locked eye contact.

"It seems your residence is lacking in essential sustenance. We're going to the store."

"Essential sustenance? We have plenty of food."

By the time Frisk had finished speaking, Chara was already at the front door. "Yes, but not the foods you _need_. Now let's go."

Frisk sighed again. They lowered the footrest of the reading chair and hopped to the floor. _"Well, guess that answers that..."_

* * *

"Where's the grocery store? Are we there yet? Hurry up."

"Will you quit bothering me? I'm walking as fast as I can."

Chara shook their head. "I've seen you walk faster. Out of the ruins, for example."

Frisk had to purse their lips to keep from making a fast emerging frown obvious. "Look, when we get to the store, I'll get you your chocolate. I brought a few bucks. But just a warning: if it turns out you're incapable of eating food, you owe me. Understand?"

To Frisk's relief, Chara nodded their head. "Yes yes, I'll pay you your money back. Honestly, I don't know where I'm going to get it, but I'm sure I can find a way. Are we there yet?"

"No. Now quit asking."

For the next few minutes, Chara and Frisk walked quietly down the sidewalk. Downtown was only about a ten minute walk from their neighborhood, and the local grocery store was just a few minutes past that; because it needed a parking lot, it was off to the side of the cluster of buildings that comprised the town, sticking out like a sore thumb.

After a few more moments, the two came upon the building. The parking lot, save for a few cars near the entrance, was completely empty; Frisk had to admit it was a little surprising, given the fact it was past noon. Chara, however, nodded in approval.

"Doesn't seem like there are many people here. Good. Let's make this quick."

A small part of them didn't want to, but Frisk couldn't help but glance at Chara from the corner of their eye. "Let's make this quick? You who was so excited to come here?"

"I just want the chocolate. I have no desire to linger." As they spoke, Chara crossed their arms. "I hate people. Why stick around?"

Frisk stopped walking. Chara took a few more steps, but then they turned too came to a halt, and turned around.

"... What's the hold up? Let's go."

Frisk shook their head. "Wait, hold on. What do you mean 'why stick around?'"

Chara scrunched their eyebrows in confusion. "I don't want to be around the grocery store longer than I have to. Seems self explanatory, to be honest."

"That wasn't really what I was getting at." Frisk walked over to the curb of the parking lot and took a seat. After a moment of stillness, Chara joined them. "I mean... if you don't like people, why'd you want to come back up at all? Why are you _staying_ up here?"

As they spoke, a bead of sweat rolled down the back of Frisk's neck. If history was any indication, they already knew the answer.

"... I honestly don't know. I just wanted to, I guess."

Frisk blinked. They glanced at Chara from the corner of their eye; instead of the big wide grin they'd come to expect, their face was bent in a small frown. Their eyes drooped in sadness, and they'd been looking at their feet as they spoke.

"You don't know? I doubt it. If you tried to absorb me, you at least had a plan."

Chara shook their head. They continued to watch the ground as if their life depended on it. "I only wanted to absorb you so I could return to the surface. Honestly, I don't particularly _need_ your body; in my current state, I'm pretty much free to do whatever. Whatever I want..."

Chara spoke the last part with a drawl, dragging a sigh along the end. Then they finally picked up their chin a bit, and looked out over the open parking lot.

"Look, it's not important. I guess I could try to talk to you more about it later, but... not now. I honestly don't know yet, so drop it. Please."

Without even stopping to think, Frisk nodded. They stood up, and even though they knew Chara couldn't accept it, held out their hand.

"Come on. I'll buy you your chocolate bar now."

* * *

"Ugh... there are still people everywhere. Let's make this quick."

As they walked through the automatic sliding doors, Frisk and Chara glanced around. Up and down the aisles, shoppers with carts walked (and in a few strange instances, ran) about; a few wailing children could also be heard over the elevator music playing throughout, no doubt in the candy aisle. And unfortunately for Frisk...

"Well, no sense in wasting time. Come, let's find the chocolate and get out."

Chara started to walk down the first aisle, Frisk fast on their heels. As they did so, their head went side to side, scanning rows of products for the one they were looking for. "Frisk, you know this place better than I do. Where's the candy?"

"Uh... where those crying children are. Let's avoid that for now."

"Impossible." Chara fervently shook their head, without breaking pace. "I told you, I want to be done here as fast as possible. To purposefully avoid going to where the chocolate is impedes that."

"Yes, but—"

"No buts. Come on."

Frisk rolled their eyes. _"The things I do for you..."_

Still, when the two reached the end of the aisle, Frisk took a left. Luckily for them, they couldn't hear the children in the distance anymore; either the parents had given up and conceded to their 'demands,' or they'd been removed from the store. Either way, they didn't care. Humiliation saved.

Frisk and Chara came upon the end of the second aisle, and thus the candy. The child took a step to the side to show the SOUL the full assortment. "Here, take your pick. Just so long as—"

"I want this one. It's the most expensive; it must be the best."

Chara pointed to one at the bottom of the shelf. Frisk's eyes hovered over to it, though with more than just a bit of hesitation. It was even harder to look at the price tag.

 _"... You've gotta be kidding me."_

* * *

"I can't believe I just spent almost twenty dollars on _one_ chocolate bar. That should be illegal. I don't care where it's from."

"Hey, YOU were the one willing to buy it for me. Thanks, by the way."

Frisk groaned. Chara started to laugh, and as they did so, handed the chocolate bar to Frisk. "Here, I'll let you take a bite, at least. You have that to look forward to."

"I'm entitled to as much as I want. I bought it."

"Only if I can't physically eat it. Which might still happen. Who knows."

Chara shrugged. Frisk shook their head, but behind their mask of seriousness, they were struggling not to smile. And the funniest part was, from the corner of their eye, they had a hunch the other was feeling the exact same way.

* * *

"Well now, we've arrived at the moment of truth. Let's find out."

Chara held the chocolate bar high to the sky. The sun cast a glare on the shiny silver wrapper, making a bright flash; Frisk had to shield their eyes. It was aimed right at them, albeit unintentionally.

"Agh! Put it down!"

"Huh?" Chara angled their head to the other child, and quickly saw the problem. "Oh... sorry. Heh."

Chara lowered the candy bar and set to work with removing the wrapper. Frisk shook their head and blinked their eyes open. "Jeez... the least you could do is be a little nicer to me. Don't shine lights in my eyes."

Frisk talked with a smile on their face, and they were only just able to finish before they broke in a fit of giggles. Chara smiled a little too.

"Yes yes, very funny. It might not matter, though, because you WASTED your money IF—" Chara grunted with each tug at the wrapper, all unsuccessful, "I can't get this wrapper open! Here, you do it."

Chara shoved the chocolate bar into Frisk's hands. The child started to laugh again.

"You know, they print instructions on how to do it. Here, watch," they said as they turned the candy bar vertically. Along the top fold, a little circle with _THUMB HERE_ in black ink stood out. Frisk clasped it, and, with their other hand, tore the wrapper off half the bar. They smiled a big, cheeky grin.

Chara took it without even a thank you. They brought the chocolate up to their mouth and broke a chunk off. "Well, I can chew it, at least," they said, mouth full. "That's a good sign."

And with that, Chara took a big gulp and swallowed. Their smile came back with a vengeance.

"So... what do you know. I sure hope you didn't spend all your money on _just_ this."

* * *

 **And stop.**

 **Well now... seems like friendship is starting to poke through. Buddies 4 life! Mostly.**

 **Have a nice day.**


End file.
